Kingdom Hearts: Puzzle of Truth
by FerreTrip
Summary: Mewtwo's been turned into a human, set to level 1, witness to his world disappearing, and now must go around with a couple of dorks. He thought life'd be good after the events at Purity Canyon. Boy, was he wrong. Mewtwo's greatest fight begins...R&R plz!
1. 00, 01: Prolouged Suffering

_Flying...Memories..._

_"Quiet! ...Let us hear its psychic powers...!"_

_...Water..._

_"...This armor will not disable your powers, but focus them..."_

_...Sky..._

_"He may not have a nickname, but I've still got...Charizard. I choose you!!"_

_...Land..._

_"...And this time, we'll both remember..."_

_...Space..._

_"...That's the sun..."_

_...Glass..._

_"So little time, so much to do...Take your time..."_

_...Memories...?_

_Flying..._

_Mmmm?...A...a dream...?_

**Bit 0: Nightsky City**

A young man walked the streets. He wore an unsmiling face beneath large bangs, with the right side larger than the other. The rest of his hair was traditional spikey anime hair, but shorter than normal, and the spikes mostly pointed down. He had a long, thick rattail hanging out back. His eyes were a peircing violet, and seemed as if they were perpetually slanted into a glare, although somewhat softened coming towards the nose. Around his neck he wore a brown cloak of a single cloth wrapped around it, with the back of it torn short to fall down only to his belt. Otherwise, he had on perfectly normal clothes.

He trudged along the road, hands in pockets. He was bored, going home after getting some brunch at the sub joint down the road. Well, that is, if he actually lived up the road; he lived far away, near the old church with the nearly-abandoned tower. 'So little for to do...I need something to do that will help wake me up,' he thought. He had no real job. He instead got what money he requiered through minor theivery: At night, he went around and took minor bits of money from many houses, enough to pay for food and clothing when needed. It was long and tedious work, but it was how he got by. He'dn't been caught yet, so he'dn't worry a bit. Now, he needed something to do, or else the poor guy would keel over of boredom.

"AAAHHHHH!!"

He looked casually to an alleyway where he heard the scream. It sounded feminine and old. The guy smiled. 'That will do,' he thought, and casually entered the casual alleyway. He heard cries of "Back! Back!" and the sounds of something flailing out to beat something; it sounded like a purse trying to beat a body. No grunts, and no footsteps; the attacker must have cornered her and was closing slowly in on her. The young man frowned annoyedly as he used his psychic abilities to see a stout, round-faced old woman dressed up in a dress that appeared to be skillfully made and a matching hat, all shades of red. Crowding her were three large men with, instead of pokéballs, clubs in their hands. The hysterical old woman was batting with her little purse with all her might. The man thought. 'I wonder if they desire knocking her unconcious, then stripping her and selling that outfit for a high price.' He gauged their strength, eyes wandering his surroundings as he soundlessly crept along the alleyway. They caught on a dirty wooden crate full of lots of old junk from some house. Three articles looked to be in good shape and were availible for easy taking: A shortish steel pipe, the top half of a cane that was missing a gem on top, and a sturdy-looking two-by-four with a bit missing on the bottom.

The man shrugged, approaching it. 'Huh. Fair fight, weapon on weapon, and besides, I want to get better at swordfighting anyway,' he reasoned, looking to see which seemed the most suited, finding they all looked to be able to withstand beating people. 'Hmmm...The pipe would be more painful, I could do technical moves easier with that thin cane, and the board could let me block attacks easier,' he observed. After a second's decision, he decided to take the cane. 'I need no sheild to defend me and no sword to offend; I am confident in my abilities enough to go with this,' he reasoned, putting the cane into his belt. He advanced quickly now, since he had wasted enough time with the weapons.

Just in time, too; the men were almost upon her. "AAAHHHHHHH!!!" she screamed again, cringing.

"HEY!!"

The men turned around, glaring at the little punk in front of them. They were a fair bit taller than him (although the kid was somewhat tall already) and probably were twice his weight in muscle. The one in the middle spoke. "Get outta here, or you're gonna regret it, and don't even think of callin' the cops on us," he threatened.

The man smirked, eyes now like triangles. "The latter," he said, voice deep and powerful despite his scrawniness, "I will agree to. The former, though--" He drew his cane with one hand and got into stance, improvised weapon hanging relaxed at his side. He had his left foot forward, and was standing sideways. His legs were, like a good fighter, bent. His smirk opened a bit. "I must appologize, but running is simply not my battle style."

The three guys blinked, looked at each other, and burst out laughing. "You...are the weirdest...little kid...A little stick?! WHAA-HAHAHA!!" The first guffawed, bending over and having to shut his eyes from laughing. When he managed to open them, he laughed as a skinny stick sailed past his dodged body. "You wanna play? Then come on!!" He swung with his club.

The young man smiled. "Are you sure?" he asked, rolling under the swing. He stopped and jumped up, turning to his target. "Because I play--" THWWAACK!! The man yiped at the kid's strength, the cane stinging his face and causing him to stagger back a bit. The kid landed. "--very rough!"

The other two growled. "You little--" said one, and the fight began. They charged in on him, but the man dodged and went into a combination of swings. His strength was great, despite his skinniness. He ducked, rolled, dived, and evaded attacks while he dealt out swings, thrusts, and strikes to the men. When he was surrounded, he jumped and kicked off one guy's chest, sending him back, and froghopped over another's, making sure to kick his back with both heels as he sailed over. And when one guy tried to attack him with a strong, two-handed blow, he nimbly leapt, higher than any normal human, and grabbed his head. He swung onto the enemy's back, latched on with his legs, and started viciously whailing away at the back of his neck. After a few, before he was thrown, he grabbed the shoulders, unhooked his legs, and then kicked himself off the enemy's back. It was amazing how he fought. And the amazing part was, he didn't use a real fighting style; he just used a self-taught set of moves, and improvized when needed! Barely any discipline!

The woman, on the ground from shock from watching the fight, gaped as the three men, bearing bruises, fell back to one end of the alley. The man was on the other. He pointed his cane at them. "Were I you, I would run," he said simply.

The guys seethed. "GET 'IM!!" the center one commanded, and the three shot towards him at once. The young man simply stood, waiting, pointing out. Then, at the last moment, he spun around in a lightning-fast spin, swinging his cane around to their fronts so fast he cut their shirts, and followed up with a reverse hooking kick, with his heel, kicking all three down. He spun back into stance and breathed. The guys grimaced and then scrambled to get their cowardly asses outta there.

"And stay out," he muttered, smirking while he sheathed his cane. He turned around and his face magically changed to become an honest look of concern. "Are you okay, m'am?" he asked, bending down a bit to the short woman.

She nodded, smiling broadly. "Thank you," she said in an old lady voice, "thank you so much. I don't have the slightest idea why those men would just out and attack a defenseless old lady like that without having any interest in money..."

The man shook his head. "Oh, they were interested in money, all right," he said. Pointing to her hat, he explained, "Your outfit looks so ornate and expensive, they must have thought they could sell it on eBay or something. Is your outfit high quality?" he asked, crossing an arm and resting the other on it, while his chin rested on that arm's hand in a thinking gesture.

The lady nodded and responded in a relieved tone, "Yes, it's made of silk; I'm glad they didn't get to me. Thank you so much again, sir...er, your name, if I may?" she asked.

The man gave a mental shrug. "Sure. It is Maru," he said. "Not Shikamaru, or Ebisumaru, but just Maru."

The woman smiled sweetly, putting a hand on her chest. "Thank you, Mr. Maru, again, for saving an old woman like me. I don't want to ask why you did and will instead be grateful I still am clothed. A naked old lady in the middle of the city..." She shuddered(as did, in his mind, Maru). "How wrong and embarassing!" She shook her head and looked up, smiling. "I absolutly HAVE to give you a reward," she said. She lowered her head to her purse while she rummaged, grey bunned hair visible under the wide brim of her hat.

Maru chuckled and held his hands up, giving a slight smile. "No, but thank you anyway, miss," he said. "You almost lost a great deal of money, and I do not--"

"Nonsense!" The woman withdrew what looked like a round, golden bauble of some sort. "I won't accept 'no' as an answer. You deserve this. It's only fair since you went out of your way to rescue me. And in such an entertaining mannar!" She chuckled and shook her head. "If I didn't know any better, I'd say you were some sort of Fighting-type in disguise. Or mayhaps you're just very good," she suggested. Maru, who had tried not to show anything when she suggested he was a Pokémon, swore he saw a faint glint in her eyes.

Maru, mouth slanted in an unsure kind of guilt, took the bauble. "No, I am only human," he said. He smiled again. "Thank you for the bauble. It is very beautiful. I will keep it safe." He nodded and turned, saying, "Farewell, and be careful," over his shoulder while he walked off.

The lady gave a giggle. "I will, and thank you again!" she shouted back. "Oh, and don't spend it all in one place!!" she added.

Maru raised an eyebrow at this. 'I do not think I will be pawning this interesting sphere any time soon, and I thought telling her I would keep it safe would suggest that to her,' he mused. He shrugged and looked again at his reward. 'This seems just a little too big to possibly be used as currency...' He shrugged again, pocketed it, and walked off. He noticed he still had his cane with him when he got home, and decided he may as well keep it.

*****RECEIVED Bauble*****

*****OBTAINED Cane*****

- - -

Wind blew. Cars honked. The low buzz that is constantly around places where many people are hung low in the air. But it wasn't really there that the largish Pokémon was. He was balancing on the spire of an old church, surveying the city with amazing violet eyes. His full cloak fluttered behind him. After a time, he crouched and shot off through the night to wander.

(Mewtwo, the Genetic Pokémon. Number 150. Height 6' 7". Weight 269. Level an estimated 98. Type(s) Psychic. Created by scientists as a weapon of war, this powerful Pokémon is also known as "The Moonlight Wanderer.")

Mewtwo flew, going wherever he wanted. He decided to have a little fun--who was he kidding, he had a blast whenever he flew--and impress the locals. Every night, the people of Nightsky City kept an eye on the sky for him. He's easy to spot, what with his trademark blue trail and flapping brown cloak. But he went FAST, so all people saw of him when he wasn't standing was a light show. But they loved it.

He looked at the city around him, and mapped out his line in only a few seconds. He shot off. First, he flew straight, then, like a roller coaster already shooting along the track, dived instantly at an almost 90 degree angle (going instead at 85 degrees) towards the ground. At the last second before hitting the people below(scaring the shit out of them), he pulled up and flew at a 45 degree angle from the ground, straight towards a pole sticking out the wall of a building, used for banners. One wasn't on one at the moment, so he grabbed it right as he passed it and, Sonic-style, flipped around it a couple times before slingshotting himself away, spinning a bit. Next, he turned in to some densly-packed buildings, dodging them as he flew along. He ducked under arches, soared over rooftops, and at the top of one building, he grabbed a thick antennae and spun around that, also Sonic-style(and no, he did not see any Sonic footage before he began doing this), and slingshotted off again. And in his mind, he was crying out in joy, 'THANK YOU GOD I CAN FLY!'

He then went over the square of the city and did a few aerial stunts, turning loops and figures in the sky. The psychic residue trail left by his high psychic activity when flying so fast traced his path, and people down below looked up, pointing, and some making ooh's and ahh's, like at a fireworks show. After a time, Mewtwo decided to go on a ride and went for the grand finale. He got into a tight loop, then, turning, another, and another, faster and faster, and so tight that he felt his blood rush all over his body as the centrifigal force generated by his flight, which traced out something like one of those cool orbiting pictures of atoms and the electrons around them. As he did so, he waited until he definitely heard sounds of admiration below, then shot out a loop towards a tall building looming over the square, his trail flaring a bit directly behind him.

He had to shake his head a bit to stop the dizziness, and he did so in time to pull to the side and up a bit of the building, lest he crash into it. He spiraled up the building, going to the top to the huge flagpole, which flew no colors at night. He at first spun around it so tight, it was as if he was shooting up it while holding it. Then he really did, and it was a large difference. He protected his paw against the friction as he spun to the top, at which he hiked his feet up and did an awesome upside-down multi axle, using the force of his speed to go into his spin and not into the upwards direction or anything off-course, the trail ending in a burst as the speed went into spinning. He rose up at least 15 feet, still inverted, the city lights below illuminating his body. Finally, coming down, at the last second, he flipped down and slammed his foot onto the round ball at the top of the pole. He spun around and around in a crouch, slowing down as he slowly stood, and then slammed his other foot down next to the first as the ride finally came to complete stop. He stood and breathed, arms down and paws in fists, chest rising and falling as he panted. Below, he heard the crowd cheer. He looked down and smiled at them all, knowing none could see his face. Always modest, though, he turned and shot off into the night sky, but slower so that he had no trail, but fast enough that he wasn't easily seen.

He panted and actually laughed a little as he sort of lounged, lying on his back mid-flight like how some people lie on their back on an inflatible mattress at a pool. 'That was more fun than I thought it would be!' he thought, smiling. 'Smiling...wow...' Mewtwo sighed. 'I never thought that I would find myself doing this for entertainment that does not involve fighting...wow...' He looked up at the sky, grabbing a roof's edge to sit down. He looked at the moon. '...How calm and humble I have become in these past couple of years, living under the light of the moon,' he mused. 'I now do not look at humans so menacingly, use only psychic attacks--' (he now practiced physical attacks, and in fact recently began perfecting a self-taught style of swordplay) '--or erupt when I am faced with incompetence and such. I am a much more different Pokémon than I was when I awoke in that tube...'

Mewtwo looked at a three-fingered paw. 'I still do not wish to have any companions that I know personally, though, to see every day,' he admitted. 'I still desire to be alone. For that is what I am...' He gazed at El Luna again. 'Alone.' His calm face knitted its eyebrows and sloped its mouth down a smidge. 'I still have not discovered my purpose yet. It annoys me to no end. I am Mewtwo, the world's strongest Pokémon, and yet I know not WHY I am! Other Pokémon [okay, gonna start leaving that uncapitalized were made to live in nature, or to be trained to do battle for their trainers. But me...' His gaze drifted a bit. 'Was I...Was I truly destined to fight for someone...?' The pokémon growled and shook his head vigorously. 'No, I have said it so many times! That cannot be my destiny!!'

'Then what is it?' he asked, almost talking to himself.

'I do not know yet,' he answered begrudgedly, looking away, down at the roof. 'Maybe to wander the skies of this city forever. I am content enough to do that.'

'But do I not feel restless? Feel...empty, somehow?'

'...Perhaps...just a little...'

''Perhaps?' Who am I kidding?! I do. I feel empty.'

'Yes. That place in my heart, where my purpose would fill it.' He put his right paw over his chestplate. 'A heart...Why do I even HAVE one? I was not born!'

'But, then, why did I let myself fall into that trap Giovanni set out for me, at Purity Canyon?'

'...I cared for my clones...but I made them, so I did not wish to see them hurt, my hard work ruined...'

'...Okay, so I can care. But...why? If my purpose was merely to fight, why allow me to CARE?!' He banged his right fist on the roof. ''Dammit!!'' he said aloud. 'What is it that I am meant to do?! A heart is a hinderance for one whose sole purpose is to do battle, and that appears to be the only thing I am good for! I cannot entertain with my psychic abilities for my life, nor would I want to, and my mind can only focus on battle, nothing else. That and flying a complicated course like I did. Flying? Is THAT my purpose?! No! So stupid and useless!! I love to fly, it is my only way to make myself feel good without having to kick someone's ass or blow something up, but that cannot be all I am meant to do!!' ''AAARRGGHH!!!'' He shot off, holding his head while his face mirrored his torture within.

This happened a lot to the poor poké. Mewtwo would fly around, marvel at how he's changed since his "birth," and then go into what his purpose might be, eventually driving himself nuts and causing him to fly around for an hour while he cooled down.

Tonight, though, was different. He was halfway through his cooldown when he heard a cry of pain below. He stopped, crouched over the edge of a building he was on, and saw a young boy with wild black hair being beat up by some bigger kids...and their pokémon. 'They are attacking him!!' Mewtwo thought with alarm and disgust. Oh, he HAD to do something about this. An anger that he only recently had begun to find within him welled up at the sight of this. He growled and set to work.

One of the four bigger kids laughed. "C'mon, Kotetsu, we know you're a coward, so why don't you just let us toughen you up?" he asked. "Rattata, Tackle again!"

Kotetsu yelped again as the little purple rat slammed into his crossed arms again. "Did YOU guys get toughened up by beating up on each other with your pokémon like this?!" he asked incredulously, glaring with fear and hatred at these bullies from his school.

Another kid laughed. "We sure did, scardy-Delcatty!!" he said. "And these don't HURT!! They're just...TACKLES, you know?" His little Jigglypuff (search me) slammed into Kotetsu.

Kotetsu, by the way, was a young boy with dark blue eyes and huge, black, spikey hair that flowed back more than around. He dressed in t-shirt and jeans, and currently bore some cuts and bruises on him. The Jigglypuff was hard to evade or block, since it kept bouncing. It got him under his guard and knocked the wind out of him. "S-stooop..." he whined, getting up slowly. "Please...This hurts..."

A third kid smirked. "What if we say no? Or, better yet, Tackle?!" he asked/commanded.

Somehow, Kotetsu managed to dodge the Zigzagoon, ducking completely. "I'll...I'll..." He couldn't do ANYTHING. He couldn't bring himself to fight the pokémon, they're so small and weak, he knew that! He'd feel HORRIBLE! But...with all the pain he was getting...someTHING inside him wanted to hurt them back, tackle with the force of a steam train.

The fourth kid snapped his fingers. He was bigger than the others, and obviously the leader. The three others recalled their pokémon into their balls and cleared the way. The forth held his ball up. He hadn't gotten his pokémon out yet. "I think that's enough punishment for tonight for being a weak, cowardly, dumbass brat who doesn't know that saying all the answers in every single class just really isn't the smart thing to do," he said. "Wanna rest on something nice and soft and warm?" he asked.

Kotetsu was looking down, panting, but at this, he froze. He was a clever kid when it came to these kinds of riddles. He knew exactly what the bully meant. The sound of the pokéball opening up and its inhabitant materializing came as he slowly raised his head. Two cream-colored, three-clawed feet underneath a deep olive body and cream belly. He looked up into the face of the overweight behemoth almost squeezing against the sides of the back alley.

"Snorlax!!" it growled. It looked so passivly at Kotetsu, the boy gulped. (The Snorlax, of course, didn't give a damn about anything at the moment, and was in fact groggy; hell, those things are ALWAYS groggy, with as much as they sleep.) To make matters worse, the bear-like creature's stomach growled.

The bully, unseen behind the fatso, grinned. "Laxative!" he shouted. "Body Slam!!"

'I hate that name,' Laxative thought, sweatdropping, but did as he was told. Hey, it smelled like there was a few good leftovers in the garbage bags behind the kid, maybe he could get some out...

Kotetsu gazed, frozen on the spot, at the huge load bearing down on him, and screamed. "AAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!" He turned his face down and covered it at the last moment, bracing for the pain and hoping for unconciousness to escape it.

It never came.

After a few seconds, he opened his eyes and gasped. A huge pokémon, wearing a brown cloak that covered it down past its feet, stood, holding one strange, ball-tipped-fingered hand out to keep Laxative at bay. With ease. Kotetsu blinked. "What the..."

''How dare you set your pokémon upon another human being, you disgusting excuses for people!!'' a deep, commanding, and very angry voice boomed inside everyone's heads.

Everyone gasped and looked around, Laxative being the only one who actually knew what was going on. He blinked unbelievingly at the sight of this powerful pokémon holding him. "Lax-snorlax? Lax-snor-snoor, snorlax," he said, knowing what was about to happen. "Are you gonna hurt me? I didn't want to hurt the kid, honest."

''And I believe you,'' Mewtwo replied only to the obese one. ''I will not harm you too much, but prepare to land on an uncomfortible bed...''

"Won't be the first time..."

The bullies yelped when Laxative was sent right on top of them, landing on all four. Kotetsu laughed and shouted, "YEAH!!" After a few seconds, Laxative returned (gratefully) to his ball, with four bullies, gasping and painfully getting up, glaring at Kotetsu...then looking up from the feet to the face of Mewtwo, fear and amazement growing on their faces as they did. "What the hell are YOU?!" Laxative's trainer asked.

Mewtwo glared and telekinetically picked the four up, causing them to shout and make noise. He charged an energy ball. ''Someone who would have killed you for what you have done were this two years previous, that is WHO!!'' he shouted, and blew them away. The four boys screamed as they blasted off a la Team Rocket.

Kotetsu gazed in wonder at this pokémon, gaping. "...A...A...Are...Are you...?" he stuttered.

Mewtwo turned and crouched down slightly. ''Are YOU alright, should be what is asked,'' he said. He didn't smile, but looked calm and not dangerous, which is saying something with his intimidating features.

Kotetsu gaped, getting the fact that this thing was talking, then nodded. "Th-thanks," he said.

Mewtwo nodded. ''My pleasure.'' He glared over his shoulder where the boys were. ''I dispise people like that. If they trouble you, shout for help, and I swear I shall come. The sight of me should send them crying for their mothers.'' He stood fully and turned.

"Wait!" Kotetsu said. Mewtwo paused. "What pokémon are you?" he asked.

Mewtwo paused. ''The strongest,'' he decided, and shot off.

Kotetsu watched him go. "The strongest..." he repeated. He found, then, to his surprise, himself saying, "I wish that I was you...powerful enough to scare anyone who got in my way..."

**Kingdom Hearts: Puzzle of Truth**

**Bit 1: Nightsky City**

Mewtwo trained daily. Or nightly, more like. He goes to an area of the city not often inhabited by many people. If it is, it's just hobos, and he usually scares the more drunk or stoned ones off(having great fun with the stoners). But he practices a fair bit nowadays with a psychic sword. What got the world's most powerful pokémon to enjoy swordfighting so much? Well, he was human once when he decided to, what the heck, go see a circus. While there, he saw an amazing display of swordsmanship in many different styles. He had, believe it or not, never seen anyone swing anything even remotely swordlike except on what television he let himself see. (He would rather read.) Thinking that it would be an interesting skill to learn, he decided, and so began practicing against psychically-generated foe-like targets using a psychic sword. The sword was in the strain of the lightsabers used in Tenchi Muyo, but more blade-like than Star Wars lightsaber-like. He held it in one paw, and, while he had to get used to being unable to fly, he began to become better on the ground exclusively. He'd been learning paw-to-hand/paw combat, but not as much as swordfighting. He knew a great deal of kicks, and even had invented a sort of Mega Kick that was like getting hit with a cannonball, and therefore titled it Gunshot Kick. He reels back sorta comically, then releases with all his might in one leg straight forward. He can bust down brick walls with it, but that's not his version of one of this writer's personal favorite Fighting moves, Brick Break.[ Dude! That move's animation got so effing STUPID in D/P!!] For that, he hits with his left fist, then his right, then his tail. [A la the COOL GBA animation!! *glares at GAME FREAK*]

Anyway, tonight, the night after he saved Kotetsu and that weird lady, he was practicing again. I will not spoil exactly what he does, but he does some pretty cool moves. Lately, he has been combining his psychic abilities, mainly telekinesis, to sort of play around with his sword by throwing it and bringing it back again through telepathy. Sort of like a psychic yo-yo, if you will. He has even practiced a night or two with two swords. Anywho, he was practicing at the moment.

Mewtwo rolled underneath a target as it charged at him, then leapt right after it upon getting to his feet. He slashed at it in mid-air, the force of his swing sweeping him into the air a little. (Truth be told, he actually helped a little bit when doing his aerial combos by boosting up with telekinesis a little.) After his chasing slash, which caused him to do a barrel roll[resists any net jokes, he rocked into his unique three-hit aerial combination attack. First, a vertical diagonal-down slash, turning him right, then a horizontal going in the opposite direction of his spin (left) that stopped his spinning by cancelling out the forces, then a finishing right-going horizontal that spun him around a bit quicker. As he landed, his psychic opponent burst into bits of colored light, which meant he'd beaten it. Another came behind him and he blocked with a barrier. Spinning around, he attacked his opponent.

''These targets are too simple for my skills,'' he complained, wishing he could have the creativity to create more targets that behaived differently. ''If I only had REAL enemies to fight, new ones, ones whose attack styles I did not know, I would be an extremely happy pokémon.'' The enemy burst apart before his blade.

Just then, he sensed something. Humans. And he sensed the odd energy source that resided within pokéballs with them. He spun around to face the direction they were approaching from. A hobo, lying passivly on a bench and watching fearlessly, as he did some nights, leaned over and looked down the corridor the pokémon was staring at, then leaned back to his position. "Way it looks, I think you've got some," he said in a mellow tone. He settled back, knowing he was about to watch a new soap.

Mewtwo nodded and got into position. ''Good, more sword practice,'' he mumbled. The humans ahead stepped out into the light. Immediatly, Mewtwo narrowed his eyes. Team Rocket members! Soldiers, to be precise. And these ones wern't armed with sticks--they had guns. And pokémon. The humans kept coming, and Mewtwo sensed about fifteen. The humans all got into a half-circle.

"EY! Down in front!" complained the hobo, but knew he wouldn't be listened to and was forced to stand up in his bench to watch over the Rockets' heads. He saw the R's and raised his eyebrows. "Woah. This'll be interesting," he mumbled.

Mewtwo looked at him. ''Are you sure you want to stay there, Ren? It will become dangerous, especially with guns involved,'' he warned only him.

Ren shrugged, his tattered coat shaking a few dust particles off as he did. "Like they'll actually DO anything." He motioned to the Rockets, who were still standing as still as statues, not even pointing their guns. "I mean, they'd've been attacking already, wouldn't they?" he asked.

Mewtwo narrowed his gaze even more. ''Having worked with them, they would...or they are setting up a trap of some sort...'' He warilly looked about. Nothing. And, even when he wasn't looking, the Rockets STILL didn't do a thing! 'What the hell is up with these guys?!' He turned to face them. ''What is your plan, Rocket?'' he asked, broadening his telepathy to project like a voice.

No answer from them, but Ren reacted. He raised his eyebrows and pointed. "Dude! Behind you!" he warned.

''Eh?'' Mewtwo spun around and gasped. He was now completly surrounded by Rocket grunts! And these ones he didn't even sense in the slightest bit!! ''WHAT?! How can this BE?! I did not sense anything behind me...'' And they had obviously ran on in, seeing as the last grunt was getting into place. He did not even HEAR them, nor smell them, as he should have been able to do. He could smell the clean-cut, deoderent-ridden Rockets who had come that he had sensed. But why not these ones?!

Now, the grand total of twenty-nine Rockets pointed their guns at him. Mewtwo noticed they were spaced around so that any strays would hit a space between the two Rockets opposite of one. Mewtwo raised a barrier reflexivly, but remembered that he was practicing swordfighting. 'I will just jump, then fly and raid them from the sky, trying to get them to managible amounts so I do not get shot much,' he planned. He waited for the mental message to the fingers to squeeze.

But it never came.

Frustrated, Mewtwo roared, ''WHAT IS THIS?!'' He growled, baring his teeth, and looked around. ''I have no time for games such as this.'' Truth be told, this was starting to freak him out a little. ''...Fine. Farewell.'' And he crouched to leap into the sky.

As expected, he was shot at. He shot up before a single bullet could hit. Below, he saw Ren crouch behind a member(he knew the arrangement, too, and wished for a human sheild). He raised his sword to cast it down and control its path to hit them all, when suddenly, he was struck from behind by something.

"AAUUGHH!!" he cried(hey, pokémon can cry that without saying their name, right?), cursing himself that he could not sense THAT, either. 'Night Shade!' he grumbled, beginning to fall. 'And a strong one, too...' He looked up as he regained his air-footing. Nobody but the moon. He dodged instinctivly and turned. To his surprise, a completly black creature floated before his eyes. It was in the shape of a Mismagius(however it's spelled), but entirely black. Its eyes were frightening circles of a white that, in the form it was applied to at the moment, seemed unholy...or at least not good. It made NO sounds a Mismagius would. It moved lighting-fast, trying to escape to another point to strike with Night Shade, but Mewtwo followed it with his eyes easilly.

A bullet popped through his cloak. 'Shit! The Rockets!!' He began flying constantly. The Mismagius shot again, and he dashed past and then swung. He hit, but it didn't do much, as the creature gave no sound, only reeled back a bit, then shot around him again.

Another hit, this time a Faint Attack, but from behind AFTER Mewtwo spun to face Mismagius. He grunted, caught off-gaurd, and couldn't avoid the next Night Shade. He turned to see an Absol on top of a building, also completly back with white, demented eyes. ''What?! How could it have hit me?! I cannot sense these things, either!'' Mewtwo wondered aloud. He had to contend now with bullets, Night Shade, and Faint Attack. And the worst part was, his pride would not allow him to simply teleport elsewhere.

A strange sound appeared around him. He looked up to see a shine run across a dome that had appeared around him. The shine was all of pale purpleish hexagons, like an eerie honeycomb around him. He cursed, finally getting a reading on something, this wall. 'I can sense it; I cannot teleport now, anyway,' he thought. And, to his absolute horror, he felt an emotion he had never felt in his life.

Fear.

Fear that this time, if he were caught, there would be no escape. He could do nothing. No psychically kicking ass and escaping, shedding off armor as he flew. No annoying kid with an official Pokémon Leauge hat to bust restraints and chuck him--although he still wondered how--at least 10 feet away into the center of a healing spring. He had to quit holding back, he realized, and fight these things off.

He abandoned his sword and rose an impenetrable barrier. Behind it, he calmly grabbed all 29 Rockets and slammed them inwards, making sure their heads clocked against each others' at the same time. A sickening CRRACK! was heard, as was Ren's laughter. But as Mewtwo tried to grab the two enemy pokémon, both the laughter in his heart and in Ren's throat died. Mewtwo could not grab them!

"THEY'RE UP, DUDE! ...What the...?!"

He glanced down. The fourteen grunts he had not sensed before were struggling up...and they changed. From looking like humans, they turned suddenly into strange, insubstantial silvery-white ghost-like things. And they all looked like their head was open...unzipped.

Ren was paralyzed with fear, and Mewtwo was with shock and confusion. He growled and clenched both fists, clenching everything on his face. ''What...the hell...is GOING ON?!'' he roared, opening his eyes to reveal blue-glowing triangles. He released a blast of energy--making sure that Ren was protected--and slammed it all into every enemy around. They all reeled back, the Rockets slamming up to the walls of buildings or into the mysterious hexagonal wall for those who went down the alleyways. But the white things...totally disappeared. Mewtwo finished, looking around. And then, he heard a soft clapping behind him.

"Well done, Mewtwo. You will certainly do quite nicely."

Seething to get the truth to this all figured out, Mewtwo spun about to meet up with a blast of a kind of energy he had never before encountered. Where it came from, he could not see. But he could see the white energy cord that enveloped him. "''AAUUUGGHHH!!''" he cried, psychically and physically. This pain was worse than when he was parylized by Giovanni.

Ren yelped below. "DUUUUDE!!" he cried. "LOOK OUT!!"

Mewtwo unsqueezed an eye to look down, and saw, to his horror, the supposedly knocked-out Rockets chucking Rocket Balls...at him, this time around, instead of Tauros or other rare pokémon. 'No...' The balls came closer. That energy was disabling all but telepathy. 'No...' Memories of when he was Giovanni's unwitting slave came back. 'NO...'' Capturing those trainers' pokémon, realizing he was no better...''NO!!! I WILL NOT BE CAPTURED!! RRRRRAAAHHH!!!'' he roared, but try as he might, he was screwed. He used all the power he could. It thankfully was working, but not enough. He had to focus his entire being on freeing himself.

The balls struck, almost causing Mewtwo to have a heart attack from the emotions he was feeling at the time...but instead of capturing him, he felt something far more valuable enter those balls. As his body glowed dark blue, not red this time, from fifteen balls capturing, he could feel, instead of his body, his powers being drained away! His skills. Strength, both mental AND physical. His knowledge of moves. And even his memories.

_"AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHUUUUUUUUUUUUUUGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!"_

'NO!! What is HAPPENING to me?! My memories, powers, EVERYTHING!! They're stealing them!! Stealing them away from me!! WHERE?! WHO?! HOW?! WWHHYY??!!'

As he thought this, he could have sworn, though his vision was blurring and his memories flashed past his eyes as they became sucked into the balls floating and capturing, he saw a perfect, cartoon conception: A beautiful, pink, glowing, and let's not forget as big as his head, heart rise from within his chest. As it slowly came out, he felt colder. 'Heart...why...y...I...Ai...'

Suddenly, he felt his body explode. The glowing of the balls stopped. The heart, the balls, all became lost in the white light that burst from his body. Somewhere, he heard a person he knew cry something beginning with 'd.' Someplace, he heard a strange voice curse. But one place he knew where, he heard a familiar, yet new voice...that of a young girl's...

''You...remember me?''

His body felt odd. His chest felt warmer. And all went white.

- - -

"...de? Dude?? Hey, dude? You awake? You okay? Dude???"

"Uuhhnnnn..." Mewtwo groaned and opened his eyes slowly. Blurry at first over him, he saw someone. He blinked a few times, and then rubbed his eyes. Finally, Ren came into view, hunched over his body and looking a bit worried. His face, usually mellow and easygoing, but always covered with a thick red-head beard and adorned with bagged, dark blue eyes, was now worried and amazed at the same time.

"Hey, dude, you okay?" Ren asked, now backing off a bit to sit down on his feet as Mewtwo got up. "You fell a long way...you sure you don't got brain damage or something now?"

Mewtwo groaned and shook his head, closing his eyes. ''No, but I hope not,'' he said.

Ren cocked an eyebrow. "Huh? Did you say something? I thought I heard SOMEthing, but it was, like...I think I imagined hearing something..." he mumbled.

Mewtwo opened his eyes, eyebrows bringing together worriedly. He looked at the hobo. ''I said, 'No, but I hope not,''' he tried again.

Ren blinked. "Dude..." he said after a bit. "Could you speak up? I can't barely hear you."

Mewtwo gasped. He remembered, all in a flash, the scene previous. He looked at his body and froze. 'Since...since when did I...use Transform...?' He was in his human form, complete with his outfit that he always transformed into. He, thankfully, still had his cloak. He patted his body with his five-fingered hands. "What the hell?!" he exclaimed. "I did not use Transform, did I?" he asked, turning to look at the hobo.

Ren shrugged. "I guess you did," he said. "I dunno. I saw a bright light, then you falling like a rock. I caught you, but my arms were just a bed on the ground. I had to dive for you, and it didn't really do jack diddly-squat." He looked down. "Sorry..."

Mewtwo groaned and felt his head. Great, a goose-egg. That would explain the intense pain he felt there. "That is okay, Ren, I am at least alive," he assured. 'I do not know about fine or not, though...' He got up. "I think I shall retire the night," he said. He looked to his side and found he had dropped his cane. It was, miraculously, intact a ways away from him. He took it and then tried Transform.

Here, he froze. Solid.

Ren came over after ten seconds of the Dude not moving. "Dude? What's up?" he asked. "I thought you were gonna get big and purple, but...what's the holdup?" He raised a hand, then let it fall as he saw his sorta-friend's expression.

Mewtwo's eyes were as wide and unblinking as a Venomoth's, and his jaw was open a bit. After a few seconds, he slowly said, croakingly, "...I...I...for..got...Transform..." He slowly turned to face the human. Ren stepped back, greatly startled. He had never seen an expression of pure horror and fear on the pokémon's face, human or otherwise. "...along with...every...thing..."

An akward, age-spanning thirty seconds of silence enveloped them. Finally, Ren spoke. "That's funny," he said, not laughing. "Good one, dude. You? Losing your powers?" He tried laughing half-heartedly, but it didn't really come out much more than a "heh." Ren had seen Mewtwo, without ever learning his name, in his training for a while now. He knew the pokémon's power.

Mewtwo clenched a fist. He turned to a broken piece of brick from the skirmish(the two men were alone, now). He held his hand out and tried hard. REALLY hard. He strained, causing a pain in his brow from squeezing it. Sweat appeared. Finally, a faint flicker of blue energy shone in his eyes and around the brick piece. It was faint. He closed his hand and tried to lift it. And found he couldn't. He let go and fell to one knee, gasping for breath. A cold sweat dripped from him. The horrible realization came to him as he panted. 'I...I cannot...do anything...'

Ren clapped. "Well, at least you can do SOMETHING," he said, reassuringly. He came over and patted Mewtwo's back. "You could at least grab that brick," he said.

Mewtwo panted and stood up, holding his head. "I...know now why I have...such a headache," he panted. "I...have no access...to...my powers...anymore..." He panted and looked at his arms. "Nor...do I feel...as much physical...strength...either," he said. He knew tears were welling up in his eyes, and this frightened Ren the most. He had never seen anyone this proud cry before. Mewtwo clenched his fists and looked down, letting his arms down to his sides. Classic Ash pose. "No..." he breathed. He was shaking. Tears began to run down his face and gather, ticklingly, at the tip of his nose. "This...cannot be..."

"Dude...?" Ren whispered, but didn't come closer. You just don't ruin an anime scene like this.

A tear from tears fell from Mewtwo's nose. "I...am nothing...I remember...what I could do...and how to do a minuscule amount of those things..." Another tear. "Telekinesis, telepathy, and how to check my own level..." Another tear. With a supressed sob, Mewtwo whispered something that scared himself more than it could ever do to Ren.

"As of now...I am only at level 1."

Ren gaped as he saw a pokémon whose pride he made apparant to everyone he met, a pokémon whose heart he tried to keep hidden deep within, begin to cry. Mewtwo first sobbed. Then another. Then he broke down and cried. 'My life...is worthless...'

And it was all Ren could do to come over and put an arm around the young man. He said nothing, for fear it would make things worse. He knew not what to say that wouldn't. So he just stayed, being there for the young man. He half-expected it when Mewtwo, totally distraught, cried into the hobo's lap, like a child to his mother.

(Of course, afterwards, Mewtwo said that if Ren spoke to anyone of this lapse in composure, the hobo would be out of more than just house and home.)

- - -

Fifteen pages...methinks I'll stop here for now. Hope y'all likies!!


	2. 02: Party Poopers

**Bit 2: Nightsky City**

A few days passed, with Mewtwo still sleeping normally. He could climb up to his home in human form, but he couldn't jump nearly as high anymore. To make things worse than they already were, he had the memory of when he was still a little guy now fully remembered. These weren't the worst things, though. The worst things were these questions:

What the fuck was up with that night?

What were those things, those black pokémon and those white...demons?

Why did they only steal his power?

What was that heart-like thing that had appeared from his chest? Was that...was that his actual...heart...?

And why didn't he feel as completly warm within himself as he normally did, even though he is currently downer than down?

Who was that stranger? What did he mean by "he would do nicely?"

Mewtwo shrugged these thoughts off. He had decided to go and do odd jobs--and these jobs were very odd, indeed, what with having to locate lost Skittys and help the police capture some less-cooperative criminals around town--to earn money to pay for food. He sometimes would trek all the way to Ren, who had by then become a close friend in this trying time. Mewtwo survived, living life in a blur as the days went by. His sleep cycle was the same, though, as was his eating habits. He didn't want the annoyance of having to use public toilets to hamper his mood even more, even though the toilets in the Pokémon Center were actually almost as if they were in a private restroom at someone's house, they were so sanitary. 'Maybe it's because nobody wants to be disgusted while their pokémon are near-death...'

Friday night came, and with it, the traditional end-of-the-month all-night-all-city party. Nightsky City, oddly, celebrates at the end of every single month something called "The Dance of the Moon." It originally was a night of traditional festivities, as well as live performances by local musicians. This was until the invention of the job of DJ. Now, it's a club-like party, complete with booze--although everyone can only have a set limit of alcoholic beaverages before having to be cut off for the night from them. About three per person. Thankfully, the city is VERY serious about this, and doesn't let anyone drink without proof they're of age to drink. Officer Jenny has never let a single underage drinker get away, nor a drinker who's had more than his limit. Apart from the DJ, there's also live local bands, traditional festivities squirreled away somewhere in the city, and an exciting testament to the city's slightly outlawish reputation(there are tons of alleyways in the city, so tons of thugs meet and there are even gang wars every so often): A free-fight arena where fighters are decked out in foam armor and given foam weapons and then are allowed to go at it. It's one of the most fun things the city has had ever.

Another thing people should know is this: If you're in the city that night, know that the crowds're probably not going to let you be able to leave, unless you have a pokémon with Fly taught to it. (Ah, Fly...so useful in so many ways!! Now, if only Dig was an HM...Glad Rock Smash is, what with that fiasco in GSC...I still can't smash anything cuz I was dumb enough to give back Shuckie!! X( )

So, anyway, when Mewtwo--who shall, until further notice, be also reffered to by his human alias, Maru along with Mewtwo--found a few unexpected guests entering the city before the festivities kicked off, you can imagine his sense of sorriness. Sorry that these people had to be trapped in the city for an entire night without being able to sleep, what with all the noise.

Maru was standing in the square, wearing no wristband that would allow him to drink booze since he wasn't an alcoholic, near the south entrance into it. He was debating whether he should join or not. 'Might make me feel better...Maybe if my friend was here...'

"Wow, wonder what's going on?"

Maru froze and stopped himself before he turned around sharply. If there was anything he hated happening to him, it's mistaking someone for someone else. He waited instead for the familiar voice to be answered by another.

"I dunno," said another, a deeper voice than the first. "I'll check in the guidebook."

This voice was familiar, too. Maru waited for a female voice.

"I can tell you guys!" chimed in a female. Unfamiliar, though.

Maru sighed. He continued staring off into space right forward of him. He was facing at a diagonal-forward away from the entrance. Anyone coming in came from behind and to his right. He had to do a double-take when he saw Ash and Brock--unmistakible since Ash had Pikachu on his shoulder and Brock, a gym leader, was still with him, although both were dressed different--walk into the city. He restrained saying hi to that young boy and his older companion. With them was a new girl.

Ash looked over his shoulder. "Really, Dawn?" he asked. "What's going on here, then?"

Dawn smiled. "Well, this is Nightsky City, and it's the last Friday night of the month, right?" she asked, looking at the two boys.

Brock nodded. "I still can't find it yet," he said, leafing through the guide book he had.

Ash turned, stopping a little ways from Maru. "So what's special about tonight?" he asked. "Pika?" went his best friend on his shoulder.

Dawn chuckled. "Well, you see, Nightsky City holds 'The Dance of the Moon,' a celebration dating back to the early days when this place was still a calm little village. It's got traditional festivities somewhere in the city, but the main action's here, in the city square." She motioned with her hand. "As you can plainly see, they're just about to get set for the party that'll be going on all night long, free to everyone in the city. They've got a DJ and some local bands playing, and...a huge cage...?" She put a finger to her chin and looked up, thinking. "Now, what's that for, again?"

Maru stepped forward, crossing his arms in a classic Mewtwo pose. "That is for the human-vs.-human battles fought with foam weapons and armor," he supplied. The three young ones turned and looked up at Mewtwo, but not that much. In fact, Maru was about as tall as Brock.

Ash raised his eyebrows. "Human vs. human?" he repeated, looking up into, although he didn't know it, a familiar pair of eyes.

Maru SMILED down at Ash. He even had a friendly smile on before. He'd learned to do so a while back, although it still felt unnatural. This time, though, it was at least slightly genuine, since he'd admired Ash's courage and resilience, therefore respecting him. He said, "Yes, humans fighting each other. It is completly safe, though, as they wear foam armor and use fake, foam-covered weapons. I recently picked up swordfighting, and I wish to enter into the ring." He chuckled. "They in fact hold a little tournament a few fights in. I wish to see if I can win." Lately, the few fights he had been doing against the thugs in alleyways had been a little bit easy, and so he wanted to see how long he would last. 'Yeah, right, you want to kick everyone's asses; quit kidding yourself.'

Brock raised an eyebrow, looking hard into Maru's eyes. "...Sorry for staring," he said after Maru began staring right back, "it just feels like I've met you before, that's all; your eyes remind me of someone."

Ash lowered his eyebrows slightly as he thought, too. Pikachu copied him. "Y'know, I'm getting that same feeling, Brock," he said.

Dawn cleared her throat, drawing attention to her. "Ash, it's rude to stare at people," she admonished, "and you BOTH should know that, especially you, Brock," she said, looking at the gym leader.

Brock raised his eyebrows and held up his hands. "Sorry, Dawn, it's just he really does remind me of someone, that's all," he said. He turned to Maru. "I'm sorry if we've bothered you, sir," he appologized to him.

Maru held up a hand, smiling(and sweat-dropping). "Not a problem." He let it down. "By the way, you three, do you know that once you enter this city on this night, you will not be likely able to leave until at LEAST 6 am?" he asked, crossing his arms and slouching a little.

All three sweat-dropped. "Wh-wh-why?" Ash asked. "Pika?"

Maru chuckled. 'I love making people go off-balance like that way too much...' "Well, the partiers will be so thick, it will be hard to escape, that is why," he explained, and couldn't help laughing out loud a little at how absurd that idea sounded, and the fact that it was so true. He was certain people did that in the city on purpose.

Brock groaned, crossing his arms. "Great, and with the music, we probably won't be able to sleep," he said.

Maru shook his head. "Afraid not," he said.

Dawn giggled. "Oh, come on, Brock, Ash," she said, looking at both of them brightly, "I think that we need a good party to shake things up a bit! I love concerts, and this is a lot like one, right?" She giggled again.

Ash, Brock, and Pikachu all sweatdropped again. Ash put a hand behind his head and looked to Maru in an embarrassed eyes-closed smile. "Uh, could you tell us where the Pokémon Center is?" he asked. "I at least want to get my pokémon healed before this party starts."

Maru laughed. "Well, too late for THAT, I fear," he said, nodding to the DJ.

Instantly after he had spoken, a loud voice boomed over the speakers around the place. "HHHEEEEEEEEEYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYAAHH!!!!" it shouted, causing more than a few to cover their ears or flinch. "EV-ER-AY-BOH-DAYYY!! C'MON DOWN TO THE CENTER OF NIGHTSKY SQUARE, CUZ THE TIME HAS COME TO PAAARRRR-TAAYY!!!"

Instantly, crowds of people cheered and began racing towards the center of the square. Ash and friends almost got swept away, and Pikachu almost got knocked off and lost forever under the trampling feet. Ash held on for dear life. "I SEE WHAT YOU MEAN!!" he shouted to Maru over the noise.

Maru laughed.

Eventually, the crowds died down, and Maru led the group to the center. They introduced each other, as per unwritten pokémon law(If you ever meet up with Ash, you must state your name and, if it is not done so immediatly afterwards, ask for the group's names. You cannot cringe at the unison "HI!!" after your name, freaky as it is.). They got there in one peice(and still posessing all their cash). Maru decided to act like a normal person and go off on his own to join the party, making his way to the battle ring.

In the center, after everyone's pokémon were healed, Ash and Brock sat and talked while Dawn called home. "He sounds like him, doesn't he?" Ash asked his longtime friend.

Brock nodded. "Yeah. Those eyes look a lot like his," he added, "but softer, calmer...but I could have sworn I'd seen some sort of sorrow in them."

Ash nodded. "Me, too," he agreed. He turned to his other friend. "What about you, Pikachu? You think you know who Maru reminds us of?" he asked.

Pikachu crossed his arms and nodded a couple times, eyes closed. "Pi, ka," he said each nod.

Ash smiled. "You sure?" he asked. He knew how much Pikachu enjoied charades, and he usually was fairly clear.

Pikachu nodded. "Ka!" He got into pose, narrowing his eyes into a glare, sucking in his stomach, and crossing his arms. His mouth even formed right and his ears bent back a bit. "Hmm!" he went, voice as low as he could.

Ash laughed. "Yep!! That's who we're talking about!!" he said, pointing.

Pikachu returned to normal and made a happy "Chu-kaa!!" before leaping from his seat on another chair beside Ash in the lobby and over to Ash's lap.

Brock smiled. "Yeah," he said. His mouth went straight again, though. "But that couldn't POSSIBLY be him, because, well, you know..." He shrugged at the memories that had been restored a few years back now.

Ash nodded, now a concentrating expression on his face. "I know," he said. "But his voice, his style of speech, and his eyes...That and the way he walks. Very straight arms, precise strides, you know?"

"Yeah. And his posture. He only slouched when he was being facetious like that. But the pokémon we know would never have done that." Brock shrugged. "Besides, why would he even WANT to use Transform to become human? I thought he hated us."

Ash raised an eyebrow. "The way I remember, he seemed a little more accepting of us. I mean, he DID let Team Rocket off in their balloon, and even gave us one, when we were at Purity Canyon," he pointed out. Brock gave an "Oh, yeah," jerk back of the head and nod.

"You're right. But...wait, maybe he needs to in order to go about and get food, if he even needs it," conjected the breeder.

"Maybe..."

The three made "hmmm"ed in chorus, crossing their arms and heads bowed in thought. Dawn came over just then. "Hey, whatcha guys doing?" she asked.

They looked up and instantly smiled and said it was nothing. "Let's go see if they've got some pokémon battling going on!" Ash said, rising. "Pika!" Pikachu agreed, hopping up onto his shoulder.

Dawn held a hand after him. "Uhh, but Ash, you just got your pokémon healed, you sure it's a good idea to...?" she began to ask, but knew that Ash's mind couldn't be changed. In fact, he was already out the door. She sighed. "Oh, well. Brock, we'd better go with him so that he doesn't get lost," she said, and they went out.

_"...d luck in your new be-e-ed! Enjoy your night-mares honey...While you're restin' yo head..."_

Mewtwo stood, arms crossed, in line at the fight cage. It was almost his turn. The tournament had begun, and he'd already signed up and it was his turn. Just had to wait until these guys were done. In the background, the sound of whoops and some singing along was accompanying Basement Jaxx's "Good Luck." 'As if I need luck,' he thought to himself.

"MARUU!"

"Hn?" He looked over the side of the ramp leading up into the cage. He spotted Ash and Pikachu waving from the crowd. He smiled and held up a hand to acknowledge them.

"GOOD LUCK!!" Ash shouted to him.

Maru almost anime-fell. 'He did that on purpose, I know it!' He just chuckled and smiled. He turned to the fight. '...Come on, you are being an IDIOT!! He swings left and right, then stabs when he raises his staff like that!! You should know that by now!' he thought to the fighter who was losing.

His cane had been held onto by officials, and he now had a soft sword-like foam club instead. Over the loudspeakers after the fight ended and the ring was cleared, the announcer said, "Alright!! On to round two in the quarter-finals!! Would Young and Maru please step up!!" Maru smiled excitedly, eyes widening in anticipation. A real challange!! It HAD to be! He ran right into the ring and skidded to a halt in his spot. As his foam armor was put on, he felt a slight nostalgia, memories of Giovanni's armor returning. He had gotten over it, though, as this was his second fight.

His opponent was a guy who had a sword-like club, too, but preferred a BIG one. He was a man who obviously knew a lot about the martial arts. He was grinning. Maru smirked right back, which widened into a smirking grin. They two had seen each other fight and was excited to see if they could take the other down. Maru had won the last fight against someone big enough for him to piggyback and slash at, which wasn't unacceptible in the rules. The only real rules were no real weapons, no hitting while your opponent is down, no shoes if you want to kick, and no shots to the groin for men or breasts to women(making the latter harder to fight). Mewtwo, of course, went barefoot, feeling the hard, cold mat underneath him. The bars on the cage were the only really lethal things in the ring.

An arm from the announcer was raised. "Fighters readyyyyyyy?" CHOP! "ROCK!"

Maru raced forward, as did the enemy. They met in a clash in the center of the ring, making a loud THUMP sound. Maru cursed under his breath, forgetting that he wasn't half as strong as he should have been. He'd been slowly gaining more experience as he battled thugs, and as he grew a couple levels, he found some of his former power return to him. 'I guess I have to see what it's like to be just like every other pokémon out there,' he thought when he first gained a level. He was at level 8 now. Of course, fighting human opponents meant more experience, so he could gain them faster. He knew, since they were classified as "level 1 moves," Confusion and Disable, as well as, thankfully, his basic moves with the sword. Oddly, though, he actually knew a great deal, all of them actually, but didn't use them freely because his body wasn't ready for the strain yet. So, he just used what air combo he could (two hits), his ground combo, and quick thinking situations where the context would be good for some things. He also did the move where he gets on someone's back and slashes at them a lot, because he had a lot of fun with that vicious, albiet cheap, move.

But now, he had to work his tactical thinking into overdrive. This guy had bare feet, too, so he can't just roll to the side. He'd get kicked, and those hurt a lot. The big sword and the man's strength were becoming hard to bear. His only chance was to try and swing the sword to the side and thrust at the man's face. He dared not kick, since he would surely be pushed back. So, he tried, in vain, to swing the opponent's sword away. He got pushed back a bit, losing the little sumo wrestle match. And WHAM! He got nailed soon after, just when he'd regained his balance. He met the mat, and decided to act like the honor rule in place wasn't and rolled as soon as he could. He could take damage mentally very well; being a pokémon, he could fight even if the next hit meant true death, as long as he was concious. The fact he was made to fight helped with that.

Maru got up and backed up a bit. He saw the one flaw in the guy's ploy, and knew it as soon as he saw Young charging straight at him right as he recovered: He obviously goes for power and pressure, not letting the enemy have a break. He was somewhat slow, though. So, Mewtwo just anticipated his attack and tried, praying he'd do it, to roll around him. He dived in time and rolled...coming up onto his feet right behind him! He did it! And he dodged the kick, too, jumping sideways and slashing, reminding himself of some footage of Link doing the same from TP. He hit, and as the guy grunted, the pokémon/human landed his combo attack.

Young growled and swung his sword wildly in a circle, and faster than Mewtwo had expected. The guy nailed him so hard, the poor poké slammed into the wall. He waited until he was getting up, then ran over and slammed down his sword.

Maru sidestepped it and then decided to do something about it. He jumped onto his sword and ran up it, classic anime style. As he got midway through, he fell sideways as Young swung his weapon to shake him off. He grabbed the side of the sword, though, knowing he'd be hurting himself if it had a real edge to it, and hung on. He waited until he stopped, then, using his momentum as he flew over the edge he still held tightly onto, kicked forward at his skull. He landed it, knocking him down. He fell, too, but got up immediatly. He waited patiently until, a second or two later, Young stirred and rose. The battle was on again, with a jump to avoid a rising swing.

Meanwhile, Ash and friends watched from below as Maru and Young fought an intense battle. This was the true confuser for Ash, Pikachu, and Brock: Why would Mewtwo want to let his enemy actually land a blow on him?!

But the victor, nonetheless, was Maru. It was a hard-fought battle, but he won. Panting. And grinning like a little kid. Young, also grinning, got up after his ten seconds were up and shook hands with the young man. "Good fight," he said, panting.

Maru agreed, "Good fight." They both went off as the next two were called up.

With a chance to go down to the crowd, Maru went to talk to Ash. "So, what do you think?" he asked, breathless.

Ash grinned. "That was AWESOME!!" he said. "You're good at tactics, aren't you?" he asked.

Maru chuckled. "A little, but that was more actually quick, creative thinking, really," he replied. 'Well, of COURSE I am good at tactics!! I tried conquering the world once, remember? You actually were the only reason I did not!'

Brock smiled. "Good job, Maru," he said. "Do you like fighting?" he asked.

Before thinking, Maru replied, "Of COURSE I do! I LOVE fighting other pokémon!" a bit more enthusiastically than he wished to allow. He regained control quickly, and with a sweat drop, covered, "Er, I mean, battling other people's pokémon, with my own. I have none now, though, as I gave up a while back." 'Let us hope that works...'

Ash, Pikachu, and Brock had widened their eyes, but now they went into the "Oh, I see!" motions people do. "Heh, thought you meant that you liked fighting pokémon yourself!" Ash said.

Pikachu laughed. Then, in a burst of inspiration, he quickly decided to find out if this man was Mewtwo after all. As Maru looked at Brock while the dark-haired young man spoke(mentioning his job as gym leader, which caught Maru's interest straight-away), Pikachu leaned and caught a quick whiff of Maru. He quickly leaned back before anyone had noticed.

"...I like breeding myself," Brock was saying. "I want to become the world's best."

Maru smiled and nodded. "That is a very worthy goal, Brock, and I hope you achieve it," he said sincerly. 'Wow...that actually feels weird...I doubt I have ever said anything from my heart like that...' He looked up as the match ended. "Well, I had better get into line, seeing as I am up in the first semifinal round. Nice talking with you again!" he said, turning.

Ash and co. waved, wishing him luck.

As fate would have it, Maru won the tournament by a nose. His opponent to end was a woman with TWO swords, and she was WILD. Luckilly, he knew how to fight her, seeing as he had watched her and seen her fighting style. She was a constant-attack person, and Mewtwo, with his level of 9(.5) by then, was ready for a bit of defensive maneuvering. He blocked a lot, but before a block-breaking move could be launched, he had done what in Soul Calibur II would have been called a Guard Impact; he thrust forward his guarding weapon right as the woman attacked. He threw her off-balance, long enough to get in a few hits. He did so until she became so flustered that she basically gave up. Mewtwo had a few attack patterns of his own, but, being a skilled fighter, knew that if he used them over and again, he'd be found out and would be beaten. Young was the only other opponent who had no predictible attacks apart from his style of battle, pressure and power.

The announcer raised his right hand up in the air. "Ladies and gents, we have a WINNER!!" he announced. The crowd roared. "Maru has beaten last month's champion and taken the coveted champion's belt buckle!!"

Maru blinked and looked at the announcer. "Belt buckle?" he repeated. Nobody ever told him the prize was a belt buckle!

The announcer nodded happilly and brought Maru's hand down, pressing it into it. "Yep, a belt buckle. Wear it proudly, Maru, 'cuz that'll be proof to back up bragging rights for all of next month!!" He turned to the audience and told them to give another round of applause for Maru, THIS MONTH'S CHAMPION!!

The champ looked at the buckle. It was a normal brass buckle, rectangular, with a master ball on it. The master ball's bottom and button were mere etchings, but the top half was set in pure, beautiful opal, with the right colors and everything. To either side of the ball, in the spaces left, were embossings of crecent moons with a diamond shape in the little hole of them, the symbol of Nightsky City. It was actually somewhat appealing to him. He smiled and pocketed it.

*****RECIEVED Champion's Belt Buckle*****

He stepped down from the ring and was greeted by a wild crowd. He sweatdropped and smiled nervously. "Now, please, I want to go see my friends," he said, wading through the crowd. He made certain that his buckle remained with him. He made it to Ash and co., to whom he said, "What say we head to some sanctuary?"

A few minutes later, they were at the Pokémon Center again. They dived in, panting from the wild crowd. After a second, Maru looked up. "See what I...mean, when I...said you could...not get out...before the party...was over?" he panted to Ash, chuckling.

Ash nodded. "Yeah..." He panted hard, but still managed to laugh. "Wow, and I thought...journeying was tough!!"

Maru smirked. "Escaping a tight crowd...is much harder than a journey could be," he said. They all went and sat in the lobby, regaining their breath. "Sleepy yet?" he asked them, noting the time of 10:43 pm.

They all shook their heads. "Hey, Maru, may we see that belt buckle?" asked Dawn, leaning over.

Maru smiled and fished it out. Everyone crowded around to look at it. "It's beautiful," Dawn gasped, looking at the opal. "That's opal, I think."

Maru nodded. "I thought as much," he said. He took off his belt(which was just for show anyway), removed the old, plain buckle, and put the new one on. "I usually am not one for these kinds of things," he said, rethreading the belt through the loops, "but I believe I will make an exception this time." He pulled on the collar of his cloak and freed his neck from sweat for the moment. "So, Ash," he said, finding now to be a great time, "are you a trainer?"

Ash smirked. "You bet!" he said, clenching a fist classic Ash-style. "I'm going to be a Pokémon Master!"

'How like a little kid he is,' Mewtwo mused, 'while he obviously is at least thirteen or so by now.' "I find that trainers have lots of interesting tales to tell," he said. "If you do not mind me asking, could you relate a few? You know, interesting happenings, achievements, the like."

Ash blinked, caught off-guard. "Wow, you mean you're asking me to talk about my journey?" he asked. Maru nodded. "Wow...never been asked that before..." Ash looked away, then smiled and looked back with his trademark determined face. "Alright, then, Maru, I guess I'll give it a shot!!"

Maru smiled. "Thank you, Ash. I know it is a little prying, but I really am interested in the odd tales that some trainers have." And this was true. He sometimes would ask a few trainers coming through about some things they have done, usually at times when they mention some things. Of course, he appoligized for eavesdropping, but nobody cared. So, Ash began talking about his journey and some of the more interesting events along the way. Getting Pikachu, meeting Misty and Brock, his gym battles, a few unique trainers he had met such as Richie, legendaries he has encountered(Brock even interjected, saying that he and Misty had a bet the time when Ash and Richie saw Articuno that they actually WOULD meet the legendary bird), and even some of the stories from the movies we know. He didn't sound at all braggy that he had saved the world once.

He made absolutly no mention whatsoever of Mewtwo, although he did mention meeting some scientists at Purity Canyon; that was it, though, and for that, Mewtwo was grateful and pleased. 'He kept our unwritten bargin that he speaks of Mewtwo to nobody.' Regardless, he felt a little sad not being mentioned.

Afterwards, when Ash explained his journey up to Sinnou('s'at how you spell it?), he sat back and took a drink from his water bottle. It was 11:10 by then, but Ash felt good telling his stories. It had brought back memories to Brock and Pikachu, and Dawn, knowing more about Ash, had a bit more respect for him. Of course, she only really believed him when he talked about the saving-the-world thing; she remembered watching the tv about that time in the Orange Islands, and how a lone boy and a girl named Melody had, with Lugia, stopped the three legendary birds and that collector guy.

Maru sat back and crossed his arms. "Very impressive, Ash," he said. 'Indeed. He has a pure soul, and is filled with determination enough to rival my own.' He thought about Ash telling about how he was the chosen one. 'His purpose was to save the world...He actually had a purpose. But now, that is long gone, and yet he still strives for a purpose he believes is his: to become a Pokémon Master...' He looked at the clock. 'I wish...I wish I could be the same...for I suppose my purpose in life was to fight, but that is past. What, then, is my purpose now? And is that purpose my true one?'

"Maru? What's up?" Ash asked, the silence worrying him.

"Hn?" Maru looked back and sweat-dropped. "Sorry, I spaced out. Stories like those make me think, that is all," he appologized. He sat forward again. "Who knows what adventures you may have next," he said. "Maybe you will have another one like when you rescued your mother in the tower of the Unown. I must say, Ash, you are a very brave and determined young man, and, as your badges show--" (Ash had shown him all of his badges, which he kept with him someplace on him at all times) "--a great trainer, as well. I am not the least bit surprised your Pikachu knows such a powerful move as Volt Tackle." He looked to Pikachu and smiled.

Pikachu made a happy "Chaa!!" back, making a knock-you-out-dead cute smile. (Hey, I find him a bit cute! And besides, I gotta give props to my homies; according to Mystery Dungeon, I'd be a Pikachu if I were a pokémon!! XD) Ash looked away and rubbed the back of his neck. "Aww, c'mon, I'm not THAT good," he said. "I actually got a few of my first badges helping out the gym leaders, not actually beating them, and the Earth Badge barely counts, since Team Rocket is easier to beat than an egg!!" Everyone laughed at that, agreeing. Mewtwo grinned, perhaps a little evilly, at this. He hated Team Rocket, the actual team and not the three stooges(who were currently outside, trying to sell stuff to the crowd and happily making a surprisingly large sum of money for once. Now let's see how they're gonna blow it THIS time...), and although he knew that was who Ash was speaking of, he enjoyed thinking that Team Rocket was that easy nontheless.

The clock chimed. 11:15. Everyone looked at it and commented on how late it had become. Maru smiled and got up. "I think that is enough partying for tonight, eh?" he asked. "You must be tired by now."

Ash and co. shook their heads. "Not in the least," Brock said. "Besides, how can we get to sleep with all that noise?" He motioned to the door, through which an extended cover of "Walkie Talkie Man" poured through. In the corner of the lobby, a curly-haired kid with a flannel was playing Elite Beat Agents without any sound thanks to it. He was actually doing really well, too, and on--Ow. Okay, okay, back to Mewtwo...

Maru shrugged. "Alright, but I think I am going to go back and dance a bit," he said. "If you want, you could accompany me."

Of course, they said they would.

- - -

As soon as they stepped out, they knew something was wrong. Or, at least, they could all feel it. It hit like a wave coming out of the Center. Maru especially felt it. He set his face from happy to serious. "Do you..." he began, not turning to look.

Dawn nodded. "Yeah, I dunno why, but I've got the creeps right now," she said.

"Me too," Ash said. "Pii-ka-piiii..." Pikachu squeaked uneasilly.

Brock nodded. "I've got some feeling of dread or something," he said.

Maru turned to look at them, and the serious, classic Mewtwo expression on his face startled Ash, Pikachu, and Brock. "I have not told you yet, and it may not look like it," he told them, "but I actually am a psychic, like the gym leader Sabrina. I am currently picking up on something. I do not know what, but I can tell that something is coming. I feel it strongly." 'This is not like a true sense...it is like...like...' He gasped, remembering. 'Like when I fought those black pokémon with the white eyes!! I felt a feeling of dark intents, but I dismissed it as something being spread all around by the enemies on all sides and the wall!!' He looked up suddenly, alarmed, and drew his cane. "Everyone, stay with me," he said. "I have a feeling this night will not end very well..."

Everyone followed his gaze skyward, but only saw darkness. However, Pikachu gasped. He, as well as Mewtwo, saw something only pokémon eyes could see, and any pokémon in the area looking up saw it, too.

A swirling dark cloud.

"You see it, don't you? ...That's the signal, you know. The time has finally come to see if it's you they'll choose."

Kotetsu gasped and turned to find a man in a covering black cloak looking down at him. In his room. "Who are you?!" he asked, backing away in alarm.

"I'm not anybody; not in particular, but just plain at all," he said cryptically. And he disappeared.

Kotetsu ran for his mother, scared out of his wits. But he discovered something odd: Nobody was home. He hadn't heard anyone leave. They just...

He burst outside, making his final mistake.

The lead guitarist of the little show band of one human and the rest pokémon, a Machop, glanced up at the sky. The cloud caused him to stop playing, seeing as looking at it parylized him with a feeling of dread. The other pokémon looked over at him, followed his gaze, and stopped, too. Soon, the lead singer was singing accapella, and she turned to look at her pokémon bandmates. All of them, including her trained Chattot backup singers, were looking up. She did, too, and gasped. She saw it, too, and didn't know why. But it scared her.

"Amberi?" asked an off-stage guy who helped run the event. "What the hell are you guys doing?! Play!!" He looked up. "Are you all stoned or something?! PLAY!!"

The audience had stopped jumping and was now looking up at her band, muttering what's going on. Amberi only said one thing into the microphone:

"It's starting to rain..."

Thing is, that night was a very clear one, indeed. The sky was shining with stars, although nobody could see that. At least, not until all the lights went out.

"Shit...?!" Before he could get anything else out, Maru had a large black thing pelting down towards him, one of the many beginning to fall. He swung, but his cane went clear through the black blob. And it almost fell onto him if Pikachu hadn't zapped it.

Ash looked down. "What's going on, Pikachu?!" he asked. "Why'd you--"

"C'MON!!" Maru roared, and began to run. An enemy he couldn't fight was one from which he took flight. Ash and the others followed. He thought about asking to get their pokémon out, but then, someone screamed a blood-curdling shreik. He turned and looked as a black form, not of a pokémon but still like those he saw that night, held up a glowing pink heart, like the one he saw that same night. The person it took it from fell, and confused people all around murmered why, then lots of surprised yelps.

The person had disappeared.

Ash was about to bring out his pokémon, but Maru stopped him. "NO!! Do not summon your pokémon, else they run the risk of disappearing, like that woman over there," he said. Everyone had seen.

And as the looks in their eyes told, so could everyone else.

"OH MY GOD!!"

"WHAT THE--?!"

"AAAAHGHHHHHH!!"

'What the fuck is going ON?!' Mewtwo roared in his head, but ran still, leading the group onwards and away from peril. The creatures were everywhere now, all falling from that dark cloud. They were on the streets, and he almost ran into one if Pikachu hadn't snapped his attention back forwards. "CHUUU!!" the rodent grunted as another...THING bit the dust. Maru turned towards him and thanked him.

"Why the hell aren't YOU doing anything?!" the pokémon asked back(in his own language, of course).

Maru gritted his teeth. "Not now!" he said, and tried slashing at something ahead of him. And went right through again. "Shit...Okay, maybe getting your--"

The sound of pokéballs opening resounded from behind. Ash, smart kid, had found that only pokémon hurt these black things, and Brock and Dawn followed suit. Soon, they were all running, Maru feebly slashing, Pikachu shocking with all his little might, and the others running along, their pokémon protecting them from the endless swarms of the black creatures.

But they couldn't last long. The people around them were running hither and thither, yelling and screaming. Tens upon hundreds upon thousands, it seems, of them fell to the antenne-branded things. Some were now even in little suits of whimsical armor, knocking people down with spinning kicks. Maru couldn't hit anything with his improvized weapon. Nobody could even kick them away. Only the people who knew what they were doing, the ones who had made it far into the battle finals that seemed ages ago now, actually hit. Maru saw their example and tried to kick, putting his heart into it.

'Heart...wait...these things are after hearts! Real HEARTS!! SOULS!!' he realized, after--thankfully--knocking one down. He had to kick to do damage, but he couldn't last long running and kicking. That's what a weapon was for: fighting with freedom of movement. "IF YOUR POKEMON GET HIT BY ONE OF THEM AND KNOCKED DOWN, RECALL THEM!!" he warned. He soon got tired from kicking after the group had battled their way to the stage. Once there, they found they were cornered. Not many people were left, and replacing the huge crowd of happy humans were these dark beasts, hungry for hearts. Maru cursed. "WHY MUST MY POWERS GO NOW?! WHY?!" he screamed, kicking off more.

Ash and the others tried kicking off baddies, as well, but they had no sucess. Their pokémon, like Maru and Pikachu, were tiring, as well. Soon, all had been recalled. Ash and the others grouped together. "What's going to happen?!" asked Ash, frightened. "What's going on?!"

Maru grunted, kicking off another one. "An invasion by aliens?!" he suggested. "But we can't let them steal our hearts!! That's what they're after!! I can't let that happen to my friends!!" He was more tired than he had ever felt in his life. And it showed: He got hit. And again. And was down. He got back up, but it was difficult, seeing as some sludge was forming around him.

"AAAHHHH!!"

"HEEELLP!!"

"PIKACHUUU!!"

Maru turned, his own heart turning freezing. The humans were sinking, as if in quicksand, into the black ooze that the creatures were becoming. "NO!!" He tried to run, but was stuck, and could only fight sinking himself.

"PIKA!!" Pikachu tried to zap them free, but had a hard enough time keeping himself afloat.

The two pokémon could only watch in horror as their friends sank into the ooze which now covered the entire city. It rained it. The creatures became it. It flowed out of fountains. Poured from building windows. It was a storm of ink that took your body and soul.

Brock went down, reaching to Maru. "NOOOOOO!!!" He went.

Dawn went down, reaching to Maru. "AAAAHHHHHH!!" She went.

And Ash went down, reaching to Pikachu. "PIKACHUUUUUUU!!!!"

His hand disappeared beneath the ooze, and he was gone. Pikachu and Maru screamed(in respective tounges), "NNOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!" in unison.

Pikachu turned to Mewtwo with such pain and confusion it scared him. "WHY?!" he asked. "WHY did you let him DIE?! You could've SAVED HIM!!" He zapped with what waning energy he had left. "You're supposed to be the best, RIGHT?!"

Mewtwo growled and fought to free his legs. "I LOST MY POWERS!! I SAID THAT!!" he yelled back. "Otherwise, these things'd never've come!!" He was crying. "I failed...I FAILED!!" He screamed to the dark heavens, "IS THIS MY PURPOSE?! TO FAIL AT ALL I DO?! EVEN TO PROTECT MY FRIENDS?!? IF SO, THEN I OBJECT AND DARE YOU TO CHANGE MY MIND!!!"

His yell reverberated across the city. He almost stopped moving his legs, which was what was keeping him up. Almost...until a bright light peirced the bleak scene, blinding the pokémon after so much dim light. Mewtwo looked down as the sludge shrank back, barely able to see. The light, he saw, came from his right hand. When the light faded, the stage was temporarilly free of ooze. Pikachu was still there, panting and looking up, cheeks sore from squeezing so much to shock. And when Mewtwo looked at his right hand, he gasped.

There, shining in the dim light, was the oddest thing that he could ever imagine using as a weapon: A giant, metal key.

And it had POWER. He could feel it. And he knew that the black things hated it, as he now was surrounded by a zone where the ooze couldn't get to him. Pikachu, smart little scamp, was now inside it. "What the heck?!" he said, looking up at the key.

Mewtwo looked at it, bewildered. "I...I have no idea," he replied. "And I thought a giant spoon was a crazy enough idea for a weapon for use by psychics...A key? Why?"

"LOOK OUT!!"

Maru spun around and, through reflex, slashed at the dark thing leaping up to get him. And it went bye-bye. For a second, Maru looked at the weapon with awe. Then, he nodded, as if understanding, and turned. New vigor filled him. He could FIGHT again. And damn, did he know how to fight. Along with ooze, thousands of the creatures swarmed about the two. "Pikachu, get on and rest," he said without looking down. Pikachu did so, getting up onto his shoulder and holding on for dear life. "It's time to take care of these things," Maru said, getting into stance.

They charged, and he ran forth and met them.

- - -

Kotetsu knew not what was happening. Nor did he know why that ooze was forming around him. He knew only that it was scary, scarier than a teenager should be expected to handle alone. Those people before him fell to those...things, and he didn't like it. It made him shudder. He knew what was going on. Their hearts were being stolen. The screams they made before their heart was stolen...the look of utter distress upon their faces...And those three bigger kids on the stage just now, they looked so horrified...Kotetsu was afraid to sleep again, lest he have nightmares. That is, IF he slept again. "HEELLP!!" he cried. "SOMEBODY!! HEEEAAAALLLP!!" He looked around. Nobody. No Agents or even Oendan to save the world. He was alone, and too far for the person now attacking the beasts that had appeared viciously to help him.

Kotetsu didn't care what that bright flash was, because he, a coward of a 14-year-old boy, was worried about himself. But those bullies weren't there, either. And when he saw their hearts be stolen, he felt like, somewhat, they deserved it. He knew it to be wrong, but...he couldn't help it. He didn't know why, but he had been feeling a growing, horrific feeling in his chest lately. Who would know that the feeling he was experiencing was that of hatred. A dark feeling of hatred.

He looked about, stressed to the limit and distraught. "PLEASE!! HEELLLP MEEE!!!!" he screamed.

"KOTETSU?!"

Heart fluttering, he spun around and almost broke down in joy. "Amberi!! You're alive!!" His one and only friend, Amberi. She was a talented musician interested, as he was, in psychic activity and pokémon. She was, for some reason, apparantly immune to the ooze, since she was running and not making so much as a ripple. She was only a year older than he was, and so pretty. She had amber eyes, long black hair, and a sweet smile and voice that could hit just about any note it wanted. In fact, her voice rivaled that of Christina Agulera's, which could go 2 or 3 octaves; a more than human range.

Amberi, clutching to her bass guitar, which was somewhat busted from beating those things back, ran over. "Kotetsu!" she cried, approaching. "How the hell are you okay?!" She looked down. "You...you're being protected," she said. "Like that guy who yelled a bit before." She looked up slowly, eyes full of wonder. "How?"

Kotetsu shruged and ran over and clutched to her for dear life. "I dunno," he said quietly, "but I'm scared. Mom and dad aren't home, nobody's home...they disappeared before these...THINGS came...Are your pokémon friends okay?" he asked.

Amberi held her friend close, bowing her head. "...I have them in their emergency balls, with me," she said. "Kotetsu, let's just stay together and wait this out. I'm scared, too," she said, and held out Kotetsu like a mother would hold her child, in front of her and by the shoulders. "But I'm okay. I dunno why, but the gunk's just not sticking to me."

Kotetsu, who always was like a little kid when he got scared, whimpered. "Amberi...I just want it to stop..."

Suddenly, the ooze leapt up and splashed between the two, separating them. Amberi, caught off-guard, shrieked and reached out for Kotetsu, who remained protected. Amberi became engulfed.

"AMBERI!!" Kotetsu roared, reaching, the wall of goo blocking him.

"KOTETSU!!" And that's all we heard from Amberi before she, too, was gone.

Kotetsu stood for a second, then got to his knees. He still stared at the spot she was in just a second ago. He didn't know what he could hold on to. He was certain he was going to go insane. This was too real to be a nightmare.

"I can make it all stop."

He looked up. The wall of ooze had turned into the cloaked figure. "Who ARE you?" he whispered on a shaky breath, eyes showing tears of confusion, sadness, strife, and hatred. At who, nobody knew.

The figure held out a black-gloved hand. "Your destiny. Take my hand, and I will make it all go away. You are the chosen. Only you."

Kotetsu gulped. He had no choice. Decline, and he loses his mind. Accept, and...wait..."What have I got to lose?" he slowly said. He stood up sullenly, head down. He held a hand out. "Just make it stop," he asked. "Make it all go away." And he took the man's hand.

The next thing Mewtwo knew, he and Pikachu were flying straight up through the sky. He looked at where they were heading, or trying to while he spun about. He kicked and swung until he stopped spinning. There, in the sky, was a huge, glowing, black orb. Objects were flying towards it. "What the--?!"

"MEW-TWOOO!!"

Pikachu was hanging on for dear life. He was being separated from Mewtwo. "PIKACHU!!" Mewtwo grabbed just in time to stop him from flying completely. The two held onto each other, flying off. But their grip was slipping, Pikachu's fur being too soft and smooth for Mewtwo to hold on for long. "No, Pikachu!!" Maru grunted through gritted teeth. "I--cannot--let you go--like I did--to your trainer!"

Pikachu was crying, tears flying off into the strange portal, coming ever closer. "Mewtwo...I'm sorry for what I said," he said. "I didn't mean it...I believe you, you can't use anything, can you?"

Mewtwo growled. "I CAN, and I WILL," he replied. "I am not going to let this nightmare end it all!!" They entered the portal, becoming engulfed in neverending darkness. He felt his grip slipping. Although they both knew that it was futile, Mewtwo shut his eyes to stop the tears as he said his farewell: "I vow to you, Pikachu, friend of the one who saved my life twice over, that I shall not turn my back upon you or any other of my friends, and therefore you WILL see me again, with both of us alive and with our hearts!!"

And Pikachu, with a hopeful smile as he heard the vehemence in the once-cruel pokémon's voice, said a simple, "Okay," and felt himself slip away, both into the darkness and into unconciousness.

Mewtwo reached after him as he flew right away from him. And then, he heard a deep growl behind him. He turned and saw two menacing, insane, lifeless white circular eyes staring at him.

Falling endlessly, Maru clenched his key, ready to battle. "And I, Mewtwo, the Genetic Pokémon, never break my promises," he breathed darkly. The darkness lit up with a dark light, coming from all around, the same light that illuminated the scene he flew from. A new battle began.

The beast revealed itself to be a hideous, Medusa-like-headed giant, a cross between man and beast, with four legs and two arms, sort of like some demented centaur. It had to die, else he would. The biggest battle he had ever fought began with a feirce, unnatural roar from the demon. It swung its hand.

Reacting instantly, Mewtwo dodged it, funneling and despratly trying to push using what little telekinetic power he had. The next blow he couldn't avoid--but he did. Somehow, in the nick of time, with a bright flash and a blur, he basically swam away from the fist coming for him. He felt something in the key as he did so. There was power in the key! He nodded and decided to try and use it. The flurry of blows that came next were dodged, one after the other, and he made his way to the lug's head. And with one more dodge, he had made the dumbass punch itself! He grabbed a writhing dreadlock as the head reeled back. Grabbing onto it, he began slashing with fury and might. Sensing he should get off after a few, he dismounted by plunging his key into its skull and pushing off with the force of that. He withdrew it as he fell away. Below, the giant roared and galloped away.

Next, Mewtwo had to look around as he fell constantly, fighting that horrible feeling you get when you fall. He found that, with this key, he somehow had the energy in him again to guide his movements through the air. 'It probably is from the weapon,' he thought, despite it feeling like telekinesis. Regardless, he could guide himself on a lateral axis, but not longitudal. For that, he either spread out his body to act as a parachute and go slowly up, or dive, funneling in this case, to go down. He looked around as his foe came galloping to him, hooves level with him. He grimiced as he narrowly avoided them. He couldn't rise fast enough, and he felt no chance appear with the key. After a few runs, he knew he had to try and disable those legs. So, next run, he swung out with his key at a leg. He didn't know if it hurt or not, but he swung at the weakest point he could each time on the same leg. After about four times, the centaur roared and fell down. His rear leg barely missed Mewtwo, who noticed it might have been in swinging range. He saw it crouch. It turned to face him, swinging at him.

Maru went through the same swimming motions. He got to the head and tried to get him to hit himself. After the first dodge, which kept him nearby the face, he found that the thing had gotten smart. It had went and gotten close to its face, but not close enough. It paused next, and Maru waited. He dodged, this time sensing the chance arrive and grabbing the dreadlock. A slashfest on the back of the creature's head later, and it galloped off.

As it came by this time, Maru swung at first a front leg, then a rear on the same side. 'This is too easy,' he thought. Trying for both legs WAS difficult, though. This time, he heard firing sounds as the galloping monster returned. It was trying to shoot him! The blasts came only a bit before the beast had come. Mewtwo was smart, studying the bombs as they fell, and discovered that they only fell to his previous position. So, he glided over to the legs instead of waited, and slashed again at each leg. After this process ended, he found the beast falling again. This time, as the rear leg came to him, he struck that, too. When the black devil tried to stand, it found it could not. Before Mewtwo could fly over, he became filled with energy. It came from the key again. It ignited his heart, and he felt a familiar power well up. He bared his teeth as he held the key back, getting into his familiar pose.

Vvvvnnn...vvvvnnnnn...Slowly, an orb of darkness began to form in his hands. It grew slowly. 'Damn! I still must not be powerful enough to do it correctly!' And sure enough, the beast got up again, and he had to disband the attack, keeping it on hold to finish charging up for later. The beast came over and tried punching him again. This time, when Mewtwo got to the face, he expected the pause. It came, and in that time, he got three normal hits on the face in(although it did not make any movement to signify pain). Three hits, and he barely avoided the next hit. Another pause, and he swung thrice again. This time, the face went down from its own fist. Another slashing session, and Maru was at the repeat of the battle.

'It is going faster,' he noticed. 'It seems a little more flustered. Am I actually HURTING this Goliath?!' He swung at both legs again, dodging the blasts, but when he stopped his spin, he saw, too late, the huge tail coming down and swatting him like a fly. "UUWWAAHHH!!" he cried, spirling off. He regained himself, though, and tried again. Two hits, and this time, he dodged the tail like he does the fists. The third try, something else unexpected happened. As it came forward, it was the midsection. All its front was beginning to glow a sick deep grape color, and Mewtwo sensed what attack it was trying. 'If I hit that front, I will be in pain,' he thought, frantically gliding away. He barely made it, the middle grazing his cloak. The fourth run was normal, but Maru/Mewtwo was ready for anything now. It went down after the next normal run, and immediatly, Mewtwo began to charge his attack. It was nearly complete when he had to hide it again.

Again he fooled the beast into knocking itself out after three pauses of three-hit combos.

Again he slashed at its skull.

Again he dodged, slashed, and evaded the running attacks.

And finally, he had it. It went down, and he went to finish up.

VVVVNN...VVRRRRRREENNNVEENVEENVENVENVENVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVN!!!

'At last!!' Mewtwo finished it just in time, and knew just when to release it. And at the same time, he had an idea on how he should release it. He interrupted the attack again, this time a black flame flickering around the key. And this time, he dodged and landed on each fist. He leapt and jumped across the back of each one coming, getting to the face. He dodged the last one, going into the pause, and, in that time, released it, smack dab in the thing's face.

Own face contorted with rage, hatred, and finality, Mewtwo reached back and summoned the orb again. He let go of the key, and it became one with the globe of darkness he held. "SAY YOUR PRAYERS, DEMON!!" Mewtwo oxymoroned. "SHADOW BALL LOCK!!" And with an almighty "HIH!!" he chucked it forth.

The Shadow Ball containing a wildly spinning key zigged and zagged as it flew right into the beast's face. When it collided, an explosion of light, fire, and darkness erupted with a primitivly satisfying KKKEEEERRREEEWWWWWBBBOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMM!!!

Mewtwo felt the key return to his hand, but he didn't care. All that mattered was the behemoth swaying before him, then, with an almighty roar, collapsing and shattering into a trillion peices. These assembled, and an enormous, glowing heart formed. It floated up, up, and away. And as it floated off, so did Mewtwo.

'What was that I faced?' he asked. 'An...inner demon...?'

''Of a sort.''

*****OBTAINED "Kingdom Key"*****

- - -

If you don't know what that thing was a spoof of, I've gotta smack you. Unless you've never even PLAYED KHI...Well, I hope y'all liked it!! I sure did! CAN'T WAIT FOR MORE!! (Boy, the Heartless really are mindless, now, ain't they? XD)


	3. 03, 04: Garden Path of Radience

**Bit 3 (interlude)**

"Uuhhhnnnn..."

Stained glass...

"Wh...what is...happening...?"

Sword, sheild, losing...

"I feel so...strange..."

More enemies...

"My head..."

So little time, so much to do...

"Is...this a bed I am on...?"

Take your time...

"Am I...I am still...human...??"

"We tried to create the world's strongest pokémon--and we succeeded." BLAABOOOOOOM.

"...! Pikachu!"

Mewtwo sat up, eyes shooting open. He was in a room, and was indeed lying on a bed. He was still in human form, as Maru, and was still wearing clothes, although they were quite beat up from...something. He looked around. Bedside table with a lamp. Chipendale on the right wall. A door directly across from him. A clock chiming 10:00. A window above the headboard showing a beautiful morning sky and an industrious town below, while across, a huge building could be seen. Not much else, though. Maru flipped the covers off and swung out of bed onto the floor. He felt re-energized, having taken a much-needed rest.

He looked at his right hand. "That key...where is it?" he whispered. He wanted a closer look at it. He searched the room, and his pockets(it WAS a key; maybe it shrank? It WAS a mite strange), but found nothing but a bit of lint from his pockets and dust bunnies under the bed. He groaned. 'I wish I could just teleport it into my hand,' he thought. He even tried to do so, thinking, 'Well, I have gained a few levels; maybe I can...'

KSSHH!! Bursting into existence in his hand in a thousand points of light, the key obtained last night(?) was in as good a shape as ever. Maru looked in wonder at it, examining it. It looked as if it could be made of plastic, but was obviously of a strange form of metal, or SOMEthing. Attached to the butt end of the hilt--which was surrounded by a square double handguard--was a keychain, a symbol composed of one large circle and two smaller ones, giving it a vauge resemblence to a Rattata's head when looking strait at it. "What IS this thing?" he wondered aloud.

The door opened, and a tall young man with long legs and hair came in. "That would be what's called the Keyblade," he answered. Maru turned to him. The man stopped a bit in front of him. "You must be very special to have something like that," he said, raising an eyebrow.

Maru did the same. "What exactly is it?" he asked. "A sword of some sort, I know, but...it is filled with strange power," he stated, raising the blade in front of him. "Can it do special attacks on its own?" he queried.

The man tilted his head. "Sort of," he replied. "It's interesting you weild it in its true form, and not one that befits yourself," he observed. "Most people who even are able to use it get it in a unique form, but not that true form. However, if you should get tired of using it as such, you may always simply take a keychain and replace the one on it, see if that makes a difference." He shrugged. "Quite frankly, it's the most intersting weapon I've ever seen, and I only know of...let's see...well, I personally have seen only three people use one, and I've heard that two more are able to, as well."

Mewtwo nodded, then let the blade disappear, sending it back into a pocket of space. It disappeared in a way similar to how it appeared. He looked up into the man's eyes. "Where is this?" he asked.

The man turned to leave. "A town known as the Radient Garden. And before you ask, no, it's most likely not in your world." And he left.

**Bit 3: Radient Garden**

Maru stepped to the wall overlooking the huge chasm below. It was a beautiful, yet strange, place. The town was busy building itself still, with some shops open for business already. He had met a few interesting individuals, many of whom looked different than what he was used to seeing. That man, in fact, had looked a little different compared to people he was used to seeing normally. 'Another world...' He, at first, didn't believe it, but seeing a short little duck wearing spats, a coat, a top hat, and using a cane while speaking in a Scottish accent shattered all doubt that this couldn't possibly be the world where pokémon dwelled.

He sighed and checked himself over. The only thing that he had with him was that bauble. The cane had transformed into the keyblade, which bore a bronze-colored barrel and bit, a dark blue handguard, and a strip of yellow around the barrel right where it met the handguard. The keychain was bronze as well. He learned from a woman who resembled a ninja that that form was known as "Kingdom Key," and really was nothing very special apart from it being a keyblade.

Maru sighed again and looked back out to the beautiful landscape barren of familiar vegetation or anything of the sort. He had no idea what he should do, or where he should go. He had made a promise, though, and that was to find Pikachu and everyone else. How he would do that, he didn't know. Checking this place top to bottom would be a good start.

"Excuse me, young man?" asked an aged voice behind him.

Maru turned to see a wizened old man, with a pointed blue hat that was as tall as his white beard was long, in a blue robe, standing with a questioning look on his face. "Yes?" the pokémon replied. He wondered if he should keep his standard stern expression, or soften it a little.

The man nodded. "Yes, er, are you the one who just arrived with the keyblade?" he inquired.

Maru nodded. "That is correct," he said. "Why is that anything to you?"

The old guy frowned slightly at this rudeness(basically being asked, "What's it to ya?"), but asked calmly still, "I am Merlin, and I believe that, if you want to find out more about your weapon, it would be wise to accompany me to my house."

Maru blinked, eyebrows raising a little. Learning about the keyblade? Now THAT was inviting, indeed! He nodded. "Alright," he agreed, "but do anything intolerable, and I will have to leave, or worse." 'I RRREEAAAAAAAAAAALLY should stop talking like I am a god; I could quite easilly be defeated at my current level. Heck, a fairly well-trained Pidgey at level 20 could wipe the floor with me if I were not careful! Well...okay, maybe not a Pidgey, but...'

The two walked off to the old man's hut. Once inside, Mewtwo gawked at the KILLER computer set up right there in front of him. "Good Lord, you must be rich," he blurted out. Computers--since he has built three, the latest being in his home on top the church in Nightsky City--interested him. He covered his mouth and blushed at his rudeness.

Merlin chuckled. "Oh, that's something that they gave me, really," he said, waving it off. "And Cid uses it more than me." He walked over to a bookshelf.

"Cid?" Maru repeated, raising an eyebrow as he closed the door behind him.

"A mechanic of sorts; genius," Merlin explained, taking a journal down from the shelf. He opened it up and flipped a few pages, then found what he was looking for. He came over and showed the open book to Maru. "This is a journal I kept a bit ago; I've moved on to a new book. I sketched out a few different forms and diagrams of the keyblade."

Mewtwo took it and looked. The first picture (they all were in glorious color, although he saw that the outlines were in ink, and was therefore confounded as to how the colors and such were so realistic) showed the keyblade in its Kingdom Key form, but silver, with a yellow handguard and a blue strip. Another showed it again, but golden-barreled. A third was entirely different, blue and bearing a book for a keychain. Underneath was the caption "Spellbinder."

"That's the keyblade in the form it took when Sora attached a keychain I gave him to it," Merlin explained.

"Sora?" Mewtwo asked, glancing at other pictures. One picture of the keyblade in action showed a young man with a complicated outfit on--as well as enormous shoes--with brown hair throwing the keyblade outwards, making it spin sideways. The caption read "Strike Raid."

Merlin nodded. "Yes, the one chosen by the keyblade. See, there were thought to only be two keyblades, one weilded by Sora and one by His Majesty, the King." He pointed to the silver keyblade. "That's Sora's keyblade. The golden one is His Majesty's."

Maru (betcher gettin' sick of me switchin' off names whenever I feel like it, ain'cha? :) ) turned the page and saw a white-haired young man with a keyblade that resembled a bat's wing slashing a black thing that he'd fought before. It read, "Riku fights a Shadow." He gasped, finding that he now could name those wretched things, and looked at Merlin. "What in God's name IS that??" he asked, pointing to the Shadow. "I fought those evil things when I was in my world..."

Merlin solemnly nodded. "That, my young friend, is what's called a Heartless," he explained. "They were originally made here, when this place was known as Hollow Bastion. They are what happens to someone when they lose their heart." He pointed to the opposite page's picture, this time of one of the white/silver things with the zippered heads Mewtwo had seen the night he lost his powers. "That there is a Dusk, a form of Nobody," Merlin said. "When someone who has a particularly powerful heart loses it, the body they had becomes a Nobody, which is similar to a Heartless but very different. For instance, an obvious observation is that Heartless are mostly dark colors--with the exception of the eccentrically odd White Mushrooms, which I have never heard actually take people's hearts; they play with them more. Anyway, the Nobodies are usually white, silver, or other light colors."

Maru furrowed his brow, studying the diagrams. "Are the Nobodies allies?" he asked.

Merlin shook his head vigorously. "Goodness, no," he said. "They both are enemies. In fact, they are actually enemies to each other; Heartless and Nobodies fight one another given the chance." The old man sighed. "They both caused us a great deal of trouble. If you look at the man in the cloak there on the same page, Axel, you'll be looking at another Nobody."

Maru raised an eyebrow. "But you said--"

"Yes, but there are exceptions," Merlin explained. "Some Heartless are human-like, like how some Nobodies are human-like. I could go on with explaining, but you probably don't want to go through a lecture," he said, sounding slightly dissapointed.

Maru's eyes brightened--a rare happening, indeed. "I enjoy learning a great deal," he said kindly. An opportunity to learn in detail about these feinds, as well as the keyblade, was too much to pass up. Besides, what did he have to lose? He shouldn't go off looking for his friend before he knew about the enemy he knew he would probably have to face.

Merlin laughed. "Well, then, I advise you take a seat," he said, waving a hand.

Maru yelped as a chair flew right to him, knocking him into it and causing him to, well, take a seat. He blinked. "Telekinesis?" he asked. "But there was no aura around the chair..."

Merlin laughed again. "Ah, interested in psychic phenomena, I see?" he asked, smiling and pulling up a chair in the same way for himself.

Maru gave him a hard stare. "I was an extremly powerful psychic before something happened and, as I assume, the Heartless or Nobodies stole away all of my powers," he said darkly. "I am still very unhappy about it, although I am slowly regaining them." And he stopped there. "Anyway, what did you do to bring the chair over?" he asked, eyes filling with wonder again.

Merlin took no notice at the story, or didn't appear to. "Magic," he said simply. He smirked when Maru scoffed. "And that is the exact same power you undoubtedly have felt from within the keyblade."

Maru raised his eyebrows. He summoned it and looked at it. "I wondered what it was," he said, "and while I do not completely disbelieve in magic, I am still skeptical about it. See, I come from a world where a little fish can fire a high-force stream of water out of its mouth for long periods of time, even though it obviously did not swallow that much. It is an attack called Water Gun." He smirked. "It is considered normal where I am from, whereas I am certain it would be magic elsewhere. So, I am skeptical about magic."

Merlin nodded understandingly. "Well, I'll get to magic in a bit," he said. "But now, I suppose you want to know more about the Heartless and Nobodies, as well as the keyblade?"

Maru nodded, and sat through a long lecture about some basic points about the Heartless and Nobodies, as well as just about everything known about the keyblades; attacks, spells, special abilities granted to the weilder, the ability to lock worlds' keyholes, etc. He was also told, in basics and short, about the tales of Sora and The King, as they related to the two topics, as did Organization XIII, whom Merlin told him about as well. After an hour or so, Maru sat back, digesting this information. He had a very good memory for things such as this. "Fascinating," he mumbled. 'Very...I wonder if it was Organiza--wait, no, they were disbanded. But...Hmmm...No, I think it may have been someone else. It must have. But why take my powers separatly from my heart?'

Merlin magicked over a cup of tea and took a sip. "Want some?" he offered.

Maru politely declined. "Although, a submarine sandwich or a salad would be nice," he added after a thought. He was hungry, but he knew how much he needed to eat. He thanked his creators for creating such an efficient body for him.

Merlin chuckled. "I'm afraid you'll have to go elsewhere for that," he said, "and even then, you'll have to have some munny."

Maru raised an eyebrow. "I have no money, and I do not know what currency is accepted here," he said.

The wizard laughed. "Munny!" he supplied.

Maru cocked a head, confused. "Umm...come again?"

Merlin set his tea down, chuckling. He brought out a small bauble, about as big as a marble. "This is the currency, munny. M-u-n-n-y," he spelled. Maru froze as the bauble was produced from the man's robe. After a few seconds of staring at it, he slowly brought out his own bauble, about as big as a pokéball. Merlin widened his eyes. "Liar! You said you had none, but you look to be loaded!" he exclaimed good-naturedly.

Maru blinked. "I got this well before I even got my powers stolen from me," he said, "from a short old woman in a pricey red dress. She DID look quite different, now that I think of it," he added to himself. He brought the munny closer to him. "How much is this worth?" he asked, bringing it out again.

Merlin examined it. "I'd say a good 1,500 munny," he appraised. He looked around, then got up and grabbed a pouch from a shelf. He gave it to Maru. "I'd keep it in here, were I you," he said, and gave the pouch to him.

Maru took it and placed the munny within. He put the pouch into his pants, which he frowned at. "You know, I plan on going on a journey, somewhat like what Sora did," he said, looking still at the old, now battered jeans. "I do not think I'm in acceptable garb, though, as my outfit is, for some reason, quite beat up. Do you know of a good clothing shop?" he asked.

Merlin chuckled. "Well, yes, actually, I do," he said. "And it's completely free."

*****OBTAINED Munny Pouch*****

- - -

Merlin opened the door and held it for Maru. "I'll wait out here. You've been expected for quite some time, you know," he said, smiling.

Maru raised an eyebrow, but made no comment and entered. Inside, after the door closed, he had taken in a large room, with mirrors and wardrobes here and there. Nobody was around. "Hello?" he called, stepping to the center of the room.

"Oh! Dear, what have we here?" an old voice said, and a short, stout woman with fairy wings flew in. She was dressed remarkibly similar to the woman Maru had rescued from the clothes theives, but this one wore green.

Another flew in, in blue. "Why, Fauna, it's that handsome young man we've been waiting for," she answered.

Maru blinked, still needing to get used to the unexpected, especially when it involves such different-looking things. "Err..." he said, sweat-dropping a little.

"You spend any of it yet?" asked a familiar voice. Maru looked as a third fairy flew in.

He gasped and pointed. "You!!" he shouted. "The woman I saved!! You're not even from my world, so what were you doing there?!" he asked. He had let that contraction slip, but couldn't do a thing about it now.

The red-wearing woman giggled that same giggle. "We found that someone in your world was likely to get a keyblade sometime soon," she explained, smiling sweetly. "So, I just went and looked around a bit. I knew it was you as soon as you went around with those fancy moves and beat those thugs so soundly!!" She punched the air to ephasize it. "Honestly, that was completely unplanned! I had no idea that would happen!"

Maru raised an eyebrow, but smirked and chuckled, shaking his head. "Well, regardless, no, I have not spent it yet," he finally answered. "But if need be, I will use it to pay for a new outfit."

Fauna giggled. "It's free, for you, at least," she said.

The blue one sighed, though. "There's a slight problem, though," she said.

Maru, were he in his pokémon form, drooped his ears. "What sort of problem?" he queried.

The blue one motioned to the red-clothed woman. "Ask Flora," she said.

Flora smiled and said, "Thank you, Merryweather," and then gave a sorry expression to Maru. "You see, my wand is being borrowed by a student of Court Magician Donald's, and I still haven't gotten it back. We can open the gate to the world that he lives in, but the odd problem is, for some extremly strange reason, only those whose favorite color is purple, violet, or pink are allowed to enter. That, or Donald." She motioned to the other fairies. "As you can see, purple is not our color."

Maru raised an eyebrow, the restriction striking him as odd. "Well, that problem can easilly be fixed," he said. "My favorite color is violet."

Flora clasped her hands, gasping in joy. "Oh, honestly?" she asked. Maru nodded. She turned to the others. "Oh, girls, this means I'll get my wand back!! Er, that is," she added, looking over her shoulder, "if you don't mind getting it for me?"

Maru smiled and shook his head. "I don't mind it at all," he said. "If I have to beat whoever has it senseless to get it, I will. I-I'd prefer not to, of course," he hastilly added. 'Another contraction...I'm starting to slip...EEP!' (For some reason, Mewtwo was very resistant to contractions. As to why, your guess is as good as anyone else's, but I favor the "he's serious" and "he's new to the world" theories.)

Flora nodded, smiling, and turned to the girls again. "Okay, then, would you two please...?" she asked.

Fauna and Merryweather nodded, smiling, and pointed their wands at a point in space in front of Maru. A portal appeared, with an absolutly INSANE world showing through. As Maru paled at such a mad universe, Fauna sheepishly added, "We forgot to mention that he lives in a world of imagination. Please be careful, as things may not work the way you expect them to."

Merryweather nodded. "He's also very playful, and, while within his home, can basically do anything he wants," she warned. She flew in close and whispered, "Personally, I think he's a bit annoying, so beware. The worst part is he's kind of sensitive, so you can't be too obvious that you want him to leave you alone."

Maru shuddered. What was he getting into? He nodded, though, face resolute. "Well, I'm off," he said. He groaned under his breath at his fourth slip-up. "I have the keyblade, so I will be just fine."

Flora waved, as did the others. "Farewell, and good luck!" she bade.

Maru gulped as he stepped into the portal. "Thanks." 'I just may need it,' he thought as he fully stepped inside the portal, seeing as he flew straight up as soon as he was inside.

**Bit 4: Freed Creativity**

Seeing a ceiling to some funhouse room above him, Maru made no scream as he sailed upwards. He landed softly, as expected, and began walking. The ceiling was porus and squishy, like a sponge. He knelt and examined it, confirming it to be inorganic after a few moments. He looked around the room.

It was CRAZY. Swirled parts, distorted tables, and bits and peices of incongruent, complete sanity, like perfectly normal chairs around said tables, a few lamps, and a flat floor. It was like being in a funhouse, with crazy colors, swirls all over, and uneven structure. Some objects, totally random, floated about. Odd smells came to his nostrils, and different sounds erupted each step he took. He tried to jump, and ended up rocketing to the floor. He grunted as he slammed into it, then got up onto it, gravity settling again. He decided to look for the guy. Nobody was around in the room.

The doors were all locked, and some shocked him mildly(nonlethally). He decided to go through a hole that eventually appeared in the wall. 'Hey, if I get stuck, I bet they will send someone in to get me...if they can...'

Rooms went by, a maze of craziness. He began feeling a little lonely after fifteen minutes of wandering. Not to mention lost. He looked around the circular room he was in now. An idea struck him. "Hey, guy who lives here!" he called out. "If you are here and can really do so many things within this realm, come out and show yourself!!"

He waited. No response.

"Huh." He shrugged. "Worth a shot." He turned and promptly fell flat on his ass after releasing a yelp of surprise. Standing before him was a perfect image of himself as he was right now, and he had no clue how it got there. "Don't DO that!!" he shouted after he caught his breath, glaring at the doppleganger.

The other him giggled--GIGGLED!!--in a high-pitched, unfittingly wacky-sounding voice. "Well, YOU'RE a fun one, ain'cha?" he asked, and, with a cartoonish POOF!!(yes, complete with onomatopea and cloud of dust), the copy disappeared. Maru got up to his feet and looked around wildly. From the room itself, the already-annoying voice spoke. "Tell me, what's your favorite color?" it asked.

Maru looked uneasilly around. The room had all become dark, but he could see himself just fine. "Violet," he replied. "What are you going to do now?" he asked.

"Ooohhhhhhhhh, nothing," lied the voice. The floor slowly faded into a flat, hard, purple thing. Maru looked down, then slowly forward. Before him a ways away were two lumps he recognized from looking at Charizard pictures as nostrils. He spun around and, while he started, he didn't fall flat on his ass again(although it WAS funny!), since he'd expected staring into two big eyes. Big, cartoony eyes, though, ones filled with delight, friendliness, and, moreover, more mischeif than a Haunter, he hadn't completely.

"Who are you?" Maru asked. He held his hand back, ready to summon the keyblade if things began to get hairy.

The creature giggled, and Maru felt the 'ground' rumble. "My name's Figment!" the thing said. "And it's nice to meet you, Mr. Serious-pants!!"

Maru felt something, then looked down. His jeans were replaced with a pair of pants emblazoned with "SERIOUS" all over it. It actually looked sort of cool, with monotonous letters all over; it would sell well with punk teens. Regardless, these were HIS pants that were changed. He looked up again, narrowing his eyes into the menacing triangles that he still is able to make them into. (One of his favorite pasttimes is scaring the shit out of people by glaring at them like that, using his "lethal look.") "Change them back," he said darkly, in his angry-Mewtwo voice.

But Figment just laughed, raising an eyeridge. Maru noticed that he had no hair, and had two striped yellow horns sticking up from his head. "Oooooooh, scary face!" he said.

"Precisely."

Figment chuckled. "I can make a scary face, too!" he said, and then disappeared. Maru was still standing, but now looking all around. Suddenly, he looked one way and froze completely solid, his belief that he was fearless throwing itself headfirst out the window.

A face stared right back at him, one with such menace and hatred and malevolence that it was enough to make the strongest man whither. But add onto that a gruesome, bloody, and let's not forget totally freaky face...eyes...guts...moving strands of slimy stuff...ACK! I'm scaring myself just writing about it!! (So THAT'S how horror books do it!! shudders) ANYway dodges chalkboard eraser, Maru just stood there, unable to run but unable to stay, tranfixed in horror at this sight. It smelled horribly rank, like decaying flesh. And the growl it emitted sent shudders down his spine. If there was one thing Mewtwo didn't like, it was corpses; being a Psychic type may have had something to do with that.

And then, SNAP!! There before him was a short, pear-shaped purple dragon. Not Mewtwo purple, but a light purple, sorta pinkish. More along the lines of Parma for Prisma users. He had a yellow-banded underside, teeny-tiny wings that, of course, supported him, and surprisingly scraggly legs and arms for a dragon, who mostly have well-built, thick legs(arms being another thing, as Charizard points out). His tail wasn't tipped in a triangle, but had a forked point, with two blunt spikes forking out like a Y and banded, like how some horns are. He had a happy, kind, carefree expression, eyelids drooped slightly in a calm, friendly way. This guy had just gone from the scariest thing Mewtwo had ever seen to something less intimidating than Pikachu. Snapping out of it, Mewtwo shook his head and growled at Figment. "PLEASE do not do that again!!" he asked, more like ordered. "And tell NO ONE of my reaction to it," he added.

Figment giggled and flew over, as smooth as silk. He was about 3 inches taller than a Pikachu when it stood, discounting the tail. "O-kay, you little whimp," he teased, and laughed as Mewtwo, who had had it, tried grabbing the little whelp. He dodged as if it were nothing, of course. Then, after trying to be grabbed about four times afterwards in a row, he said, in a New York accent, "Yo, paws off the moichendice!" He clicked his claws, and instantly, a pair of handcuffs surrounded Maru's hands. His arms also snapped to his body and were bound tight. "Sorry," Figment said, "but honestly, what's up with you? I think you need to really chill."

'This guy reminds me of Mew,' thought Mewtwo, 'but a thousand times more annoying...' When Mewtwo was living alone, he sometimes would be visited by the carefree Mew, the same one he battled at New Island. And drew against, as much as he hated to admit it. (He would never admit that Mew's better than him, despite the fact the little guy can learn any TM or HM move; that alone didn't govern how good it was.) The little guy was as carefree as a soap bubble, and tried playing games with Mewtwo. Rarely were they good enough that he consented; the only reason he didn't totally want Mew gone was because the two competed fiercely when they did race one another around the city. It always caused people to look up in wonder as a bright blue and pink streak shot across the sky, followed breifly afterwards by a loud boom. Mew was annoying in the pestering little kid way Figment was, but the latter might even annoy the former. And yet, to his horror, the pokémon found he was starting to actually, deeeeeeeeep deep deep down inside, LIKE him, in a way. Maybe it was the Mew inside him. Who knows? Maybe Mewtwo could become as playful as his pink counterpart one day. This author and the character in question seriously doubt this, though dodges another chalkboard eraser. "How do you propose I do that?" he asked.

Figment chortled. "Well, start off by lightening up a little!" he answered. He summoned a scholar's costume to him(one resembling Prof. Rotwood from AD:JL), minus the pants. "Ya need to stop using so many fancy-shmansy words and talkin' like you're too cool for 'I'm' and 'he's' and stuff. You sound like some dorky professor!" He laughed as he walked in midair, pulling out a pointer and pointing to a blackboard, acting like a teacher. "And here, you can plainly see, in Figure 1., the Blargus jilsius..."

Maru anger-veined(as if he wasn't already). "I am NOT like that!" he retorted.

Figment smirked. "And I've seen you walking through my house." His costume dissappeared, and another one came, this time one that made him look like Cloud, Advent Children style. "You think you're some kinda big shot bad boy? C'mon, nobody likes those kinds of people walkin' an' talkin' like that! It makes you look like a total poser!!" (However, for respect of the almighty Cloud Strife, he shed the costume with no acting whatsoever.)

Maru sighed and took some deep breaths. "Look. I'll be who I want to be." 'AND THERE I GO WITH THE DAMN CONTRACTIONS!! That just killed the argument...'

Figment let out a triumphant single "HA!" at the contraction. He grinned and leaned on something in midair, like a mime. "Well, whatever. But you look WAAAYY too serious, y'know?"

Maru snorted. "I have been told that so many times before, it is not even funny," he said. "I actually am used to someone like you, but you are far more annoying, sorry to say."

Figment chuckled. "Well, a lot of people find me annoying," he said, and pulled down a list like a teacher would a map rolled up in its container atop the board. On the top, it read, "BLACKLIST." "WHOOPS!!" Figment let go and the list flipped out of existence. He gave a sheepish smile to that. "How'd THAT get there?" he asked.

Maru gave a single chuckle. "I see not even the most carefree are grudge-free," he said.

Figment laughed. "I really can't hold a grudge," he said, and one of the freaky kids from the movies fell into his arms. It croaked, slid right out and fell down out of sight. "See?"

Maru smacked his forehead. "OOoooogghhh... That was baaaaaad..."

Figment grinned. "That's a great sign! You're starting to become more like a normal human being!!" he said gleefully.

At this, Maru's smile, which had grown slowly, faded right off his face. Still looking away, he said quietly, "You have no idea how much that hurts me, and how wrong you are, indeed." He turned and gave a dark, somewhat mournful look to the little creature.

Figment took a breath as he stared into those eyes. Being so sensitive to these kinds of things, he could tell, definitely, that this guy was being completely serious with that gaze. He saw the hurt in those eyes, and the loss. Now, like all people who say the wrong thing unintentionally, he felt bad. He drooped his head and held his tail submissibly. "I'm sorry, I didn't know," he said quietly.

Maru closed his eyes and let out a sigh. "No, I'm the one--"'I am THIS close to giving up...'"--who should be sorry," he replied in a calmer voice. "And you are right, you had no idea about...my...state," he decided to end.

Figment shyly twisted his tail a little in his paws, then looked like he was about to ask, but then decided not to. He did a similar thing to what Mewtwo had just done, sighing and bowing his head, eyes closed, to get back on track. Raising his head with his smile again, which Maru found that he preferred to be there, he asked instead, "So, then, who're you?"

Maru finally gave a small bow. "Maru. That is all."

Figment raised both eyebrows. "'Maru?' You're Japanese, huh?" he asked. Maru nodded his head. Figment thought a second, putting a paw to his chin and making the standard "Hmmm," that people sometimes make when thinking. After a time, he looked up and snapped his claws. "Your name means 'valuable,' right?" he asked. "Well, I know that's what it means when used with some other names...you know, like 'Orochimaru' and 'Ebisumaru,' right?"

Maru blinked. He'd never thought of the definition of his name in a sense; he just thought up something that sounded like his real name, Mewtwo. Ironic that his name mean something that Giovanni called him once. (It was that or "Matsu," which I think is "to wait.") He smirked and shrugged, giving a "heh." "Well, true," he said simply. "I never really think about my name." 'But how fitting,' he thought. 'I name myself after a word whose definition in this case people usually apply to property...'

Figment smiled. "Well, nice to meet you," he said. He held out a paw. Warilly, Maru took it, akwardly since he had to use only a few fingers. No shock or anything, and he could remove it safely, as well. The dragon giggled. "Still don't trust me, eh?" he asked. "Well, how's about this: I let you outta here safe and sound, savvy?" He asked the last part while donning the familiar Capt. Jack Sparrow hat and beard(in this case, fake).

Maru nodded. "Alright," he said, "but I had no desire to come here for fun. I am looking for somebody," he said. "Is there anyone else here besides yourself?" he asked. "And be truthful, now."

Figment laughed. "I wouldn't lie to you!" he replied, as if it were the most absurd thing he'd ever heard of(and that's saying something), but he added, "Well, in the way you mean, I mean." He cleared his throat and stood at-ease, announcing, "No, sir, there is but one person here beside me here, and that is yourself." He presented his arm out to Maru as if showing an invisible audience.

The pokémon raised an eyebrow. "Really?" he asked. "Well, then, you wouldn't happen to have Flora's wand, now, would you?" he asked, holding out a hand.

Figment raised his eyeridges. "Oh! THAT thing! I'm sorry, hang on," he said, and dissappeared. He reappeared carrying an armful of wands of all sorts. He dropped the pile onto the floor of the air he stood on, and started sorting through them, picking up one at a time and chucking it behind him if it wasn't the right one. "Let's see...No, this is to that pink fairy...this is to her really fun husband...Oooh, this is one of those cool immovables, I'm keeping this--" (This one he had in his paw, then he raised it high, hit a button, and let go, the rod suspended in midair) "--What else...this is that British kid's...or is it the other one's?...wait, this is the other one's, it looks older...Hoo, I wonder if Tink's replaced this one yet...Whose is this again?"

"That actually looks more like a conductor's baton, actually."

"Yeah, but it's magical, so...Ooh, Merlin'll want this back, too...This belongs to a red fareie, all right, but not the right one...AH-HAH!" he finally cried in triumph, holding up a wand, another in the other paw. "Here we are! Now, y'want these?" he asked, holding Merlin's wand and Flora's wand to Maru.

He nodded. "Yes," he replied, taking them. "Thank you. And Merlin probably WOULD appreciate his wand being back...by the way, why must you have so many wands?" he asked, raising an eyebrow. "You obviously have vast power in this universe. Why use these devices to enhance your already-near-infinite power?"

Figment smiled and waggled a claw, snapping with his other paw to poof off the pile. "I'm a practicing magician under Court Wizard Donald Duck, I'll have you know," he answered. "And my mentor's asked me to practice magic so that I'll be able to do stuff outside of my world. Wands are alright, but I prefer cards, really," he commented, producing a pack of cards and shuffling it idly. "They're much better attention-getters and stronger sources of inspiration, what with so many kinds of cards. You've got playing cards, trading cards, and the infamous Tarot cards, which are some of my favorites since there are so many different styles." He held one up. It was somewhat skinny and had two circles as the top corners and a curve arcing between them, similar to the keychain on Maru's keyblade. It was red-bordered and had a comic-style hit burst on it behind a sword icon. Figment explained, "These are special cards, though, that I use for fighting, and they contain some of my power of the imagination in them. There are Attack, Item, and Spell cards, and I like these more than a simple wand, since I can throw them and attack from a distance with more than one at a time," he told the interested observer. He held a couple between his claws and threw them like shuriken, but, of course, in that straight-forward fashion that's got to be a way they can fly off from the hand in real life.

Maru, crossing his arms, nodded and observed thoughtfully. "Interesting, indeed," he commented. "And yes, cards do inspire more unique fantasies than does a wand, usually, since a wand is just a stick, which has some primal power inof itself, but otherwise makes you think a bit. A symbol on a card, though, instantly makes you think of something, and the creatively-inclined will almost garunteedly think of something relating to them that they could create." He gave a respective nod. "For one such as yourself, a being of the imagination, it fits you like such a thing over wands. Personally, I find cards make more sense, since they can obviously contain a great deal of power in such a compact device, and some may be used repeatedly. Besides, they are more fun, and make you use more of a strategy."

Figment, surprised that his ramblings were listened to and a bit unnerved by the big words Mewtwo was saying, sweatdropped. "Uhhh...Thanks," he said, raising an eyeridge and putting his cards away, "but, ah, you kinda ranted a bit there, dude."

Maru sweatdropped and blushed a bit. "Sorry, high intelligence does that to you...see?" he appologized, shrugging. He stretched and sighed. "Well, I had better be going before I force a discussion or, worse, a lecture onto you," he said, holding out a hand. "I suppose it turned out well to meet you."

Figment happilly shook his hand. "You too, Mr. Serious-Pants!" he replied, grinning. "I'll change 'em if you want, by the way."

"They'll be changed anyway." 'I am THIS close to giving up now!! X( '

Figment smiled. He then motioned for Maru to step back, then transformed into a giant version of himself. He took two great paws and tore open a hole in the air. "There ya go!" he chirped happilly, making the "after you" motion with his paw. "Thank you for flying with Figment Airlines, and we hope you have a nice day!"

Maru fought back a laugh at the corny joke. "Farewell," he bade, and walked through to the main room again. The main portal was still open, and so he went back through.

Behind him, Figment put a thoughtful paw to his chin as he closed the hole. "Hmmmmm...I remember the last time those old bags gave someone a new set of clothes, the kid ended up supposedly saving a buncha worlds..." He grinned playfully. "Yannow, as boring as the guy is, he's somebody else, and having a big imagination's not really as fun as it can be if you can't share it with somebody else...And I'm getting lonely, anyway!" He nodded and put his fist in his palm, smiling decisivly. "Awright, it's time for a little fun, methinks!!" He chuckled evilly as he bustled off to get ready.


	4. 05: It's Mr Serious Pants!

**Bit 5: Radient Garden**

Maru jumped out of the portal with wands in hand. Merlin was in the room, and he saw his old wand and went over to retrieve it. Flora did the same. Merryweather and Fauna sighed in relief. "We thought you'd been driven mad by the little troublemaker!!" cried Merryweather.

Maru smirked. "He had a bit of fun with me, but I think my little bore act got him off me when he finally gave me a chance to do so," he replied. "He actually is sort of cute, and reminds me of someone I knew..."

"Well, dear," Flora said, testing her wand by producing a shower of sparks, "I think it's time to get things over with now before anything else happens."

Suddenly, Leon (the one who Mewtwo met first here in Radient Garden) burst into the chamber. "Merlin!" he yelled. The old wizard turned. "We've got trouble!! The Heartless are back!!"

Merlin gasped. "WHAT?!" he cried in shock and disbelief.

The three fairies sighed. Merryweather groaned, Flora put her face in her hands, and Fauna put her hands to her hips and said stern-faced to Flora, "You just HAD to say something, didn't you?"

Maru looked down at his "SERIOUS" pants and groaned. "Greeaaaat...I am going to have to fight like this?" He sighed aggrivatedly.

Leon flashed his eyes to him. "If you really want to fight, then be my guest," he said reluctantly. "But you don't look like you're up to it. You don't know how to use the keyblade very well yet."

Merlin cleared his throat. "If I may?" he asked, holding up a finger. "Now, you remember when Sora came here to get HIS new clothes? He had to fight, too, and he was probably no better than Maru right at this moment. Besides, look at the poor child," he added, motioning to the anxious-looking pokémon, "he's just BEGGING for a fight!"

Maru nodded and smirked. "If there is ever a chance to fight, I will take it," he stated. "It's in my very genetic code." 'No kidding...ARGH!! Okay, I give up, I give up!!'

Leon nodded. "But there are thousands of them, and not even twenty of us," he argued. "You will need to fight in a group, unless you want to throw away whatever duty your keyblade-bearer status gives you."

Maru narrowed his eyes. "I will NOT die," he assured with his commanding tone of voice. And before anyone could argue further with him, he charged out of the room. Leon and the others looked at him as he ran, then at each other.

"He'll be fine, dear," Merryweather said grandmotherly. "He's got quite a fighter's spirit."

Leon nodded. "I can see that. But having the spirit and having the ability are two different things. I doubt he'll survive alone." He then turned and ran off to fight for himself, since that was just how he was, I guess.

Nobody noticed right away a portal opening up...

- - -

"DIIIEEE!!!"

Maru's bloodthirsty yells filled the deserted town as he charged off to meet the filthy beasts in the streets. His keyblade slashed through one after the other enemy, and he noticed he was fightning more now instead of just Shadows. But he was fighting, and when Mewtwo fights, he fights fiercely. Especially when he has a vendetta against these beasts who devoured the only friends he'd ever really known. He was certain they'd gotten Mew, as well, but he didn't want to find out, either.

"MARU!!" Leon shouted after him. "They're advancing up the gate, we can leave the city's defense system to these few who have made it up to the streets." He hurried past, enormous Gunblade obliterating any Heartless ahead of him.

Maru nodded and raced on. He just gave running slashes to anything trying to stop him. But when he saw the swarm of black after getting in view of the huge canyon, he stopped. A solid, squirming mass of black crept closer and closer. He dropped his jaw and nearly his weapon. Then he got hit in behind and snapped back into reality. He spun to hit the Heartless, but found a girl with a headband on instead. "Come ON, Mr. Serious-pants!" she beckoned, and he followed after her.

After a while, Maru finally got to the postern. By now, his adrenaline was on full blast. He was half-snarling, half-grinning at the multitude of creatures to destroy. This was a thrill he'd never had before, or one he was starting to feel...He didn't know what, yet, though. He was stopped by a bunch of Large Bodies, and so he had to deal with them while other, stronger fighters, from Final Fantasy games, raced past and ignored what they thought he could handle. So by the time Maru realized that the way out was blocked, as was the way in, by that same barrier, he was alone. ALL alone.

Panting, he looked around as the barrier came up over and around him in a dome. "What? Again?" he mumbled, and suddenly, several Heartless appeared around him. Five Large Bodies, ten Shadows, eight Soldiers, and two Darkballs, with Wyvern included in the types of Heartless, as well. He didn't know whether to drop his jaw or put on a maniacal grin. "Finally, an actual CHALLANGE!!" he gleefully said through gritted teeth. And he was off, again forgetting he wasn't the strongest pokémon ever created anymore.

He hopped onto the back of a Large Body, locked on with his legs, and did his now-familiar barrage of slashes to the head. However, three slashes, and the Darkball slammed him right off. In the air, the Wyvern then paraded kicks down on him. As he finally fell down, a Soldier spin-kicked him right into a Shadow's weak, but salt-in-the-wounds sliding kick. Maru tumbled and rolled after this lethal combo, very much in pain. A LOT of pain. He tried to get up and shouted in agony. "DAMN THIS WEAK HUMAN BODY!!" he roared in rage. He shakilly, trying to ignore the pain all over his body--the most of it being from the kicks of the incredibly strong-legged Wyvern--got up and readied his keyblade. "I'm going to have to...try harder..." he groaned. But he knew that, unless he healed up, he was as good as dead.

The foes came towards him. The aerial Heartless meanacingly swooped towards him, the Large Bodies lumbered along, the Soldiers did their silly little skip to him, and the Shadows cheaply swam along the ground. Face dripping with sweat, Mewtwo thought, 'Is this the end of me? Is this...really going to happen? No! This...this cannot be!! I can do this!!' "I CAN DO THIS!!" he repeated aloud, and tried to move. One step, and he felt more tired pain. In game terms, this is the "1 HP left" state. In horror, he looked up into the face of a Shadow just getting up in front of him.

"Obviously, you can't!" a familiar voice mockingly observed. Before the Heartless could attack, a card soared headlong into it and burst in a small explosion of power. More of them came, hitting each one in turn. Maru turned and saw, remarkably, he wasn't alone.

Somehow breaking through the barrier, Figment, of all people, was now flying up beside the bewildered poké. He wore an intricate yellow zip-up long sleeve shirt, intricate with all its extra zippers, pockets, and other little cloth or metal gadgets. 'How interesting,' Maru thought of the outfit. Also on the dragon, a belt with a case that held the same deck of cards as before, slung around what must have been the waist. The most interesting thing that he wore, though, was the expression on his face. Figment now had a fiesty, excited, and wild look on his face. "You can't have fun alone, you know," he admonished Maru. He drew a card from his deck, a blue one with a picture of a leaf on it. He raised it. "MARU!!" he shouted. The card disappeared in his paw.

Maru tilted his head quizically, but then a ring of green leaves appeared around his head, and he felt as if he'd been given a somewhat-stronger potion. He looked and saw many of his wounds were healed. He looked in wonder at Figment. "Did...you heal me?" he asked.

Figment grinned and drew a hand of cards, most of which were red. "Yep!" he affirmed. "Now, I think those Heartless have had enough with waiting," he commented, and got ready. "Now, please, don't be such a moron, eh?" he asked.

Maru narrowed his eyes at him. "Oh, shut up!!" he said shortly, and turned to face the new foes. 'I suppose I have to fight with him...We'll see...'

The large bodies came at him[screw it, I'll forget capitalization for those things..., and one crouched. With a roll, Maru dodged, and Figment flapped his small wings, which didn't seem to work as well in reality, and jumped to evade. "HOTFOOT!" he shouted, and chucked a blue card with a flame icon on it. It became a fireball and struck the beast. It didn't work as well as expected, but it gave Maru the time to attack it from behind. He comboed it, then ran after and leapt on to give his riding slash attack. He defeated it and fell to the ground as it disappeared.

Next, Figment chucked three red cards, one after the other, at one of the darkballs. The wyvern was coming at him, though, from behind. Maru gasped and began running to him, but had an idea after seeing the situation. In a flash, he jumped on one large body, to the other, and finally got right onto the wyvern. The dragonlike Heartless, unable to do anything except fly and kick, squirmed as the vengeful pokémon used his riding slash to fight the huge-legged beast. It was cheap, but it was highly effective. Many times, he had to just hold on while the monster did intricate maneuvers to throw its rider off, and also bat away any darkballs that escaped Figment's barrage. Below, he'd sometimes hear the little guy shout, "SNOWFLAKE!!" "HOTFOOT!!" and, during one attack that looked like Thunder, "STATIC!!" The snowflake was actually that, a big snowflake. Other times, he'd hear some other things for the same attacks, which he assumed were the real things: "Blizzard," "Fire," and "Thunder" respectively.

After a full thirty seconds of riding, he finally killed the thing. He fell, right into a darkball's erratic bouncing about. He grunted as he landed on his feet, and had to focus on a soldier in front of him. Figment had been working on air enemies, but Maru had wanted to eliminate the most dangerous one, the wyvern, before he could clear the ground. He evaded the spin kick and spin-slashed himself, a single spin, and went on attacking. Meanwhile, Figment, who was out of MP by then, was now just attacking with attack cards. Sometimes, he'd let out just the worst little cry of pain when he gets hit, but he was, understandibly, good at dodging, since he was so small.

Halfway through the fight, Maru and Figment stopped, panting, in the center of the postern. Maru was panting, but smiling at the good fight. Although they were back-to-back, he suspected Figment, because he was just a troublemaker by nature, was smiling a bit, too. "You are actually pretty good," he commented to the dragon.

Figment chuckled. "Fighting takes imagination, too, y'know," he pointed out. He drew a pair of heal cards. "HEAL!! MARU!!" he shouted, and the two disappeared. Both of them got healed by Cure, thanks to Figment's special he described later on as Doublecast, which he figured out how to do on his own. Then, with renewed vigor, the fight continued.

After two more minutes of fighting, the last shadow was squashed. The wall of hexagons fell, and Figment jumped and whooped for joy. "WE DID IT!!" he cheered.

Maru sighed and stood, panting. "Yes," he agreed, "but there's still much left to do. We've got a town to save. And yes, I gave up fighting contractions a bit ago," he added before the dragon could point it out. He asessed his level now. He'd grown to level 12 already! 'Woah, that's good,' he thought. 'Those things WERE hard, though, so it makes sense.' By then, in fact, at level 11, he'd regained his helpful Barrier, but he'd totally forgotten up to then. He tried to use it. Figment went, "WOAH!!" when a weak bubble formed around Maru. "Dammit," said the pokémon, gritting his teeth, "it's too weak still." He tried to condense it into a real sheild, and was satisfied when it glowed reasonably bright. "Okay, then, I can summon a weak sheild," he asessed aloud. He released it before more PP were wasted.

Figment blinked at him, jaw dropped. "Since when could you do THAT?!" he asked.

Maru chuckled. "Not until a few moments ago," he answered. A siren cut him off, and he looked out into the vast canyon ahead. "Come on, there's more fighting to do," he said, and ran off. Figment smiled. Maru stopped and turned. "Well, coming?" he asked.

Figment nodded. "You're takin' fighting as a team better than I thought," he observed, trotting over.

Maru snorted contemptuously. "I'm only doing this," he explained, "because I can't fight these things alone just yet. Trust me, as soon as I'm able to, I'll be fighting solo." He felt a pang in his chest at this, so he added, "I don't mean to sound cold or anything."

Figment, who had expected that he'd prefer fighting alone as soon as he could, still hadn't expected him to be a jerk with the "Trust me," statement. 'He's gonna be a tough nut to crack, ain't he?'

At a circle of rock before the canyon itself, Leon called out to them. "So, made it this far, huh?" he noticed. He was behind a pillar of beautiful crystal, in his badass crossed-arms-and-bowed-head-eyes-closed position. He looked up now, opening his eyes with a dry look at Maru.

Maru nodded. "Yes," he confirmed, holding a hand down to indicate Figment, who put his paws to his sides and stood proudly, smirking, "albiet with the help of Figment." He raised an eyebrow at the Gunblade-weilder. "You knew I almost got snuffed out of existence by those Heartless, didn't you?" he suspected, none too pleased.

Leon gave a "heh" and smirked. "I fight alone, and if you want to fight so badly, you'll have to be able to face whatever comes your way," he admonished. He pointed to a swirling light a bit aways. "Stand in that circle of light that can be set up in areas of calm, and all your weariness will cease," he explained. He then pointed to a hologram of a moogle. "This here's the moogle shop. You can use munny dropped by enemies to buy items. And on that note," he added, pausing and rummaging in his pockets, and then tossed four objects, two each, to each of the young ones before him. He gave a straight-line-mouth look at them and said, "I'm feeling charitible. I gave each of you a potion and an ether. They--"

"Potions restore my physical wounds and ethers restore my energy," Maru interrupted him, stowing the two bottles in his cloak's collar(Figment transformed his into cards and put them in his deck). In response to the eyebrow raise and nod the FFVIII warrior gave him, he explained, "They have them in my world. I suspect that the potion doesn't restore much of my wounds compared to a higher-ranking one, just like how super potions heal more wounds than a normal potion in my world?" he asked.

Leon nodded. "Now, hurry up and restore yourselves here, as well as get any healing items that I'm certain you newb--ies, will need," he finished after a pause.

Figment and Maru both anger-veined and shouted, "HEY!!" simultaneously. Maru shook his fist and retaliated, "I have had as much fighting experience as you have, hu--" He quickly caught himself, and hoped that it just sounded like he'd said "you" and decided not to say anything. He took a breath, lowered his fist, and quietly went to the circle. Instantly, he felt his body reenergize, and his PP return in full--although he'd only used a slight amount. His energy, although he was built to have it be extremely hard to deplete, also was restored, and all fatigue left him in the warm, green and white light. Figment felt the same thing when he stepped in it. (Were this a game, the dragon would've taken the time to save, as Maru ran off immediately after he was ready to rumble again. ;) )

The canyon! Here, Maru felt the rush he'd been waiting for: A real challange. But then, he remembered that he had gotten overconfident before, and that had nearly cost him his life thanks to that amazing combination attack dealt against his weak human form. 'I cannot wait until I can weild my true body again,' he kept thinking. Now, as he stood, Figment skidding next to him and gasping, tons of Heartless came to invade the Radient Garden. Regardless of how weak he still was, Maru smirked his Mewtwo smirk and drew the keyblade again. Figment readied some cards. "You ready?" Maru asked the little guy.

Figment gulped at the hoard of dark creatures before him. "Yeah," he lied.

"Then here we GO!!" Maru cried, and charged forward into the writhing mass of darkness before him, their fangs dripping and claws unsheathed.

The fight dragged on for what felt like an age. Maru was in the groove, seizing every opportunity to utilize the battlefeild in any way he could. He kicked around projectiles, weilded a gigantic sword against its owner, knocked back a few large bodies and fat bandits, and riding-slashed countless enemies, this time wary enough to get off and counter any aerial foes. However good he was, though, he still got hit. A lot.

Figment wasn't faring as well as he was. Physically weaker than Maru, and dependant mostly on his magic, he was having quite a time against all the enemies he fought. Several times, to his annoyance, Maru had to rescue him before he got hit by a fatal attack. However, in turn, whenever his magic cards were about to run dry until his spirit returned and he could "reshuffle" them back, Figment would always cast Cure on both him and Maru which always helped.

Nevertheless, the two fighters were eventually cornered. Backs to a wall, they were panting and facing a whole angry mob of Heartless, who were angry for the impressive total of 536 who had been removed from their ranks by the two. Again, Maru felt excited and angered and scared. 'Am I going to die...THIS time?' he wondered. 'Next to a being so humiliating to call a teammate?!' He glanced down at the pale and scared Figment, whose pigmint had gone from purple to lilac. '...Okay, I could have WORSE teammates,' Mewtwo conceded.

Looking somewhat down, Maru noticed the growing shadow that was in front of them. He snapped up his head and instantly pushed himself and Figment as close to the wall as possible. Suddenly, a gigantic--ENORMOUS--green blob slammed down on top of a bunch of Heartless, creating a small crater in the ground. The Heartless instantly disappated, and when Maru opened his eyes from an effort to sheild from any dust, he gaped.

Before him was the biggest tub of lard he'd ever seen in his life; not even this Snorlax he'd seen once could match up to this amazingly portly creature. It had a great tail, with purple triangle spines running intermittently up it and the spine of the creature, and which ended in a tuft of magenta hair; tiny, pinkish-purple, and had very basic wings, tiny compared to the rest of its bulk; darkish green scales covering its body with a lighter, yellowish-green banded underside, with even darker green spots here and there on the scales. The scales themselves were smaller than Maru'd expected. Although he couldn't see the head--it was bent over and giving a great glare at the Heartless--he knew it was there. It was very tall, too, and was at least 18 or so feet in height. Assuming it to be a dragon, it looked much more like one than Figment did. Its legs, although short, were wide at the hips, and its arms, spread out and arced in a scaring pose(and you could hear a deep roar emmit from the beast's mouth in front), were large as well. The paws even ended in claws.

Figment gasped. "Another dragon?!" he asked in disbelief. Then, with an eyebrow raise of recollection and suspicion, he asked it, "...Hey, aren't you...?"

The great beast twisted its torso without moving its head, and Maru, having been the owner of a great and powerful, as well as downright useful, tail himself, grabbed Figment and jumped at just the right time. He guessed right: the green dragon spun itself around and smashed its tail into tens of Heartless in an amazing move. Its head came into view. Instead of horns, it had two pointed ears, currently back a bit and looking like they usually remained flopped down. On its head was a messy tangle of hair of the same color as the tuft on its tail. It had a fat, round chin, and a fang, although its teeth were bared at current, stuck out on each side of its mouth. It had large, vibrant eyes, currently filled with anger--but not quite fury. As its front came into view some more, you could see that it was quite well-fed, with a very protrudent front.

Maru landed in the new space cleared from the sweep and looked up in amazement at the gargantuan creature before him, and a smirk of victory on his face. "Learn this and learn it well, Figment," he said in a respectful tone, "you should never challange a gigantic creature that has great strength, obesity, and, especially in this case, the ability to breathe fire...?" He sort of questioned that last one, giving an expectant look to the dragon, who was looking down at the two with an expression that was like, "Why are you two just STANDING there!?"

The green creature raised its eyebrows down at the pokémon-turned-human, then nodded and had an assertive look on its face. It turned, inhaled, and let forth, with a "RAAAWWRR!!" that set Maru a little off-balance at the onomatopeicness of it, a great gout of flame, searing away a swath of Heartless. It stopped and gasped breifly, then smiled triumphantly, putting its paws on its chubby hips in victory and looked down at Maru with a look of proven worthiness.

Maru grinned. "Trust me, if there's anything worse than a grumpy Snorlax, it's a grumpy Snorlax with fire breath," he explained to Figment, whom he finally set down. He readied his weapon and looked up at the dragon. "Thank you for helping us breathe a little," he shouted, and returned to the fray, happy to have been reminded of a resident of his homeworld which he knew--from an akward personal experience when he was trying to build his non-psychic powers which he doesn't like to talk about(fatfurs, think "smoosh" and everyone else, think "Spot, roll over!!")--and invigorated to fight even more. That, and seeing that many Heartless go up in smoke--literally--made him feel a little excited to be able to get more experience so that he can essentially do the same soon. He wanted his powers back, and he wanted them now.

So, the keyblader, the card-thrower, and the great dragon fought for a few more minutes, during which time Figment managed to heal them all(he considered the giant to be a temporary teammate at least). Then, however, came another time where spirits were slapped down harshly. Maru had just seen, for a full minute, Heartless seemingly flying left and right. He knew, however, that the dragon had turned itself invisible to confuse the idiotic foes. Sometimes, Maru wondered how it'd be to be 15 feet tall with the strength of fifty men. Playing with his enemies would have a different definition, where instead of flinging them places, he'd be playing golf with them. And soccer, and kickball, and football, and...you get the idea. But all of a sudden, while Maru mused over this (and kept an eye on his surroundings as well; this skill was getting back a bit more now, and he could sense enemies from three feet away, which, although not much, was helpful nonetheless) in his mind, he saw a bolt of lightning appear from seemingly nowhere.

"AWAAARROOOOOO!!" The deep-voiced cry came from the target, the now-visible dragon. It stood, parylized from the lightning...'Wait, is lightning usually...!!' Maru realized that the "lightning" was the same light that he saw try and capture him that one night. But it was different...instead of trying to take the dragon itself, something else was happening...Slowly, steadilly, it began to SHRINK!!

"A shrink ray?!" Maru wondered aloud in disbelief, and spun to the direction of the beam. Sure enough, a dark-clad man, hooded, was holding a ball in a black gloved-hand on top of a cliff. "STOP IT!!" he shouted, and fought through waves of Heartless to futilly get to him.

Figment, angered that one of his own kind was being threatened, was the only one who could do anything. "HEY, MORON!!" he shouted, and tossed, with amazing accuracy, one card of each spell type at him. "BUZZ OFF!!"

The man turned his head, and then had to break away from the capturing process in order to guard against the three spells coming his way. He got a small explosion, a burst of cold, and a lightning bolt all at once. The man then chuckled. "Tri Attack, I see," he said.

Maru growled. "That voice," he mumbled. "I recognize it!" He bashed away a shadow and pointed up at the man. "YOU!! YOU'RE THE ONE WHO STOLE EVERYTHING FROM ME!!" he roared.

The man looked at Maru, said, "So I am," and disappeared in a portal of darkness.

Maru growled and jumped on top a large body. "COME BACK HERE!!" he roared as he tried to get to the man before he went, using large bodies as stepping stones, but the black-cloaked figure had disappeared before he was even halfway there. "DAMMIT!!" Maru dropped down and slashed everything around him, baring his teeth and a look of rage in his very, very, VERY faintly glowing eyes. You'd have to look close to see any glow.

Meanwhile, while Maru proceeded to throw a hissy and recklessly fight everything around him ruthlessly(and somehow able to stay alive), Figment weaved in and out of Heartless, chucking cards here and there, to get to the dragon that had fallen down below the sea of Heartless. And just in time, too, since a Heartless had leapt onto the big roadblock to steal its heart. "Stay away!!" Figment shouted, launching a pair of attack cards at the shadow.

The shadow was knocked away, and Figment skidded to a halt by the dragon's face. Now, he looked only to be about 6 or 7 feet tall. He patted his face (he was so short he didn't need to really kneel) and kept saying to wake up. The dragon opened his eyes and blinked groggilly, then sat bolt upright and looked at himself, standing up and looking around. His pupils went to little pinpricks as he realized he was much smaller now. MUCH smaller. He said something that was complete gibberish to Figment and knelt and began to sob like a little hatchling!!

Figment sighed and did something he hated to do, and that was smack the poor guy and say, "You can't cry now, ya big galoot! You're an easy target then!" He tossed a card at an approaching Heartless and shocked it. "Get up and fight! There's no time to waste sitting and crying, I'm sorry!!"

The green dragon sniffed, then sighed and closed its eyes, nodding solomnly. He got up and, with a look of resolution, began to fight the now much-bigger enemies.

Eventually, Maru calmed down enough to really focus. He'd gotten hit a lot, careless hits, so he had realized he'd better grow up and calm down. Together with Figment and the now-smaller--but still bigger than he was--dragon, the line was defended amazingly. It felt like hours. And all the while, Maru felt more and more excitement, a true thrill. Several times he'd almost been killed, and several times he'd had to take a full minute with some enemies. 'This is something I have never felt before these events,' he realized. 'Never...But I have been fighting for all my life, so...why?'

Finally, there were only a few stragglers remaining. By then, many others had become visible, revealing that they've been fighting themselves, but had been lost amoung the crowd. It, admittedly, wasn't until Cloud and Sepheroth came that things finally began to get better. Maru had gone up a few levels, and was getting better at fighting with his new body, although he still had a ways to go before he considered using certain skills. The time to practice more advanced maneuvers such as throwing his weapon and bringing it back using telekinesis was not during a gazillion-Heartless brawl. The flow had stopped by now. At last.

Maru watched his final Heartless disappear. He panted, looked around, and shouted, "YES!!" very loudly, pumping his arm. He'd been mentally counting, perfectly, too: "3,212 OBLITERATED!!" he informed, raising his keyblade high and a triumphant smile on his face.

Figment, trotting over and panting, gave a weak laugh. "I...can't believe you...kept count," he panted, looking amazed at Maru. Then he raised an eyebrow. "You're...lying, aren't you...?"

Maru smirked and shook his head. "I never lie about combat," he returned. He felt the ground shake and looked up in surprise to see the large dragon plod over, panting and wheezing with his head down to his chest, and his arms totally limp and hanging in front of him. Maru couldn't help but feel sorry for the guy. He was so much smaller, it must have hurt his pride a bit. Respectfully, he said, "Thank you, large one," to him.

As he flopped down with a loud THUD, he breathed, "No problem," back.

Maru's eyebrows shot up. 'Is he a pokémon?!' "Well," he said, looking up and down at the spread-eagled, totally exhausted beast, "it must HAVE been, since you DID get shrunk down. I am sorry that happened..." He looked away. "I should have been able to fight better."

The dragon wheezed out a reply. "No...I...wanted to...help you...It's...just who...I am...Hooo, I'm pooped..."

Maru chuckled, breathing a little himself still. "We all are," he replied. 'I'll be nice to him, but when we're rested up, I'll go on my own again; one partner is one too many already.' He looked at Figment, who was looking amazedly at him and the dragon. 'Although, he IS a fairly good fighter...And an interesting method of fighting, too, using cards and all...'

Figment raised a paw. "Can you..." he began, trailing off a bit, but then got on again, "Can you understand him...? He sounds like he's speaking gibberish..."

Maru tilted his head, confused. "Wait, you can't understand him?" he asked. "He's a dragon, too, so I suppose..." Then he remembered. "Oh, you must be different from others, since you were created from the imagination rather than...natural means," he finished, feeling a pang in his chest as he reconfirmed his origin. He hoped Figment didn't mind as much as he did.

Figment shook his head. "I don't understand a word he says," he confessed very openly. "And you can?"

Maru nodded. "Where I come from, I can understand all sorts of creatures called Pokémon," he explained. "They always say just their names, but I can understand as if I were one, myself." 'Hope I didn't just give away my biggest secret...' "It's...a talent I was born with," he decided to add on to try and cover up his unintentional hint.

Figment nodded in understanding. "I see."

Maru turned to the dragon, who had rolled over into a sitting position. His tail was sticking out from between his legs so as not to be squashed underneath his bulk. He sighed and looked over to Maru with a concerned look. "Are you alright?" he asked. His voice was gentle, concerned, and had a hint in it that made Maru think of jolliness. He still panted a bit.

Maru nodded. "I'm okay," he replied. "Figment? Are you alright?" he translated to the smaller dragon. Figment nodded. "The question is, are YOU okay?" he asked. "You look like you can pant for an eternity." 'I wonder, am I being a bit TOO nice to him? Maybe it is because he is not a human, or he reminds me of a Dragonite or a Snorlax...A pokémon, regardless.'

The purple-haired head nodded, smiling. "Yeah, I'm okay," he replied in his odd language that others might have found annoying to listen to. But Mewtwo, as if he heard a pokémon, heard perfect English. He gave a deep chuckle. "I just need to lose some weight, that's all!" he replied. "That, or really work on my sumo wrestling..."

Maru raised an eyebrow. "You may need a person whose culture has him used to such an ancient sport," he mumbled. (He IS a member of the Pokémon world, which is pretty Japanese, even in the 4Kids dubs, remember. I mean, hey, in the Princess Festival one, James and Meowth turned into oendan for Jessie!! OUS!!) He saw someone approaching out of his periphial vision and looked. Leon was walking forward to them, face straight and expressionless as the hilt of a sword. "How'd you do, Leon?" Maru asked, smirking. "I got 3,212."

Leon raised an eyebrow. "Nice. I got 4,829," he calmly pwned. Maru secretly anger-viened at the fact he was not only beaten, but in such a mocking way. (Come on, you know that's a way of mocking somebody worse than you! If you're any better at games than anyone you've met, you've probably done it, or you've had it done to you!) Leon looked to the large dragon. He narrowed his eyes. "Elliot?" he asked. "So it's true you've been shrunk down to this size?"

Elliot nodded. He knew Leon couldn't understand him, so he only nodded, shook his head, or occasionally did pantomime.

Leon let out an annoyed sigh and put his face in his hand. "Greaaat, there goes a very big living wall," he grumbled. "We were depending on your size to act as a fighting barrier in case this sort of thing happened," he admonished Elliot, who drooped his head in shame.

Before anyone could say anything, Yuffie came over and hit Leon on the arm. "Le-on!" she admonished. "You can't blame the poor guy, I mean, seriously, would YOU have expected to be zapped by that guy?" she asked, looking crossly at the gunblader and crossing her arms.

Leon sighed and began walking past the three in front of him. "Okay, sorry, Elliot," he said as he passed. "Tell me when it wears off."

"It won't wear off," Maru said softly, looking down and clenching his fists.

Leon only said, "I know," as he walked away.

Yuffie came over and sighed. "That Leon! Always such a jerk!" she mumbled. She turned to Maru and the dragons and smiled. "Nice work, you guys," she congratuladed. "Now, Maru, why don't you come on up to get your new outfit? Although..." She looked down at his legs. "Those pants DO suit you."

Maru anger-veined. "Oh, shut up!" he said shortly. Yuffie and Figment laughed.

- - -

Maru and Figment stepped into the wardrobe. The three fairies gasped and flew right to him, all saying things regarding how they were so happy the poor thing survived, and how well they saw him fighting, and was he hurt? and so on and so forth. Maru just sweat-dropped and brought up his hands. "Easy, please, I'm fine," he insisted. "But may I please get my new clothes, now?" he asked.

The fairies nodded and looked at Figment. They then looked at each other quickly. "You think...?" Flora asked.

"Maybe..." Merryweather mumbled.

"It'd be good for him..." Fauna agreed.

They all nodded in unison and looked at Maru. "Dear," Flora said, "I'm sorry, but...do you intend on fighting alone after this?"

Maru looked at them with the, "Uh, yeeeaahh," look. "Yes," he replied slowly. Figment whipped his head around to look at him in disbelief and hurt.

Merryweather tsked him, waggling a finger. "Oh, look at the poor thing, you've hurt his feelings," she scolded Maru, pointing to Figment.

Maru surpressed a groan and looked down. Figment stared up back at him with classic anime about-to-cry wavering-outline eyes. He sweatdropped. "Er...Sorry, Figment," he appologized, "but, as good a fighter as you are, I prefer to go alone..."

Figment sniffed. 'Oh, PLEASE, let this work...Jerk!!' "B-b-but..." he sobbed.

Maru wondered if this was Fake Tears, or if it was real, or a mixture of the two. Before he could say anything, though, a large throat was cleared. Looking up, everyone saw Elliot, who barely fit in the halls, standing there with arms crossed and an unpleased expression, looking at Maru. "And just what is going on here?" he asked in that tone a mother would take when catching her kids in the act of something that would end up in one or more being punished with a scolding.

Maru, strong-willed as he was, couldn't help but feel a little like the guilty kid(s) would. "Er..." was all he could say.

"Dear, you're going to have to learn to get along with others," lectured Fauna, and everyone turned to her. She had a stern expression on her face. "As you've surely expereienced down there, you aren't invincible. You can and will get hurt," she continued.

Merryweather picked up, "Maru, we can tell you're a tremendously gifted warrior, but you can't possibly face all the enemies you wish all on your own."

Flora smiled at the young man who had saved her dress what felt like eons ago. "Maru, dear, I know you're a magnificent fighter; I've seen it myself," she began gently, grandmotherly, "but something obviously had happened to make you, and I mean this without any offence, weaker than before. I can tell. Or...am I mistaken? I terribly hate it when I make incorrect assumptions..." She knit her brow.

Maru sighed and bowed his head. After a moment, he nodded. "I was originally one of the strongest creatures in my world," he finally confessed, head still bowed. Merlin, who had been in the room for quite some time, smiled a triumphant smile. "I, in all truth, tried to take my world over," he further confessed, which made everyone gasp in surprise. "But worry not, for a lone boy sacrificed his life to stop the fighting, getting in a crossfire with me and the only other I would call my equal. Ever since, I have grown to be more and more compassionate towards...people. More concerned. I have even begun to want to help them. But my main goal in life remains to be finding my true purpose.

"One night, that same man I saw on the battlefield today, the one who stole the power and strength Elliot's size gave him, stole my power and, I think, nearly my heart, as well," he continued. He felt pain at the memory of loss. "And since, I have had to rely on a weapon to defend myself, at least against these Heartless. They stole my world, as well as the only ones I have ever considered my friends...one of them being the very same boy who had died--and been resurrected in the most moving way, before my very eyes--thanks to me; the very same boy who saved my life, once figuratively and another time literally. A favor I failed to return, and then some. I lost my world because I was not strong enough to stop those God-damned Heartless BASTARDS!!" He clenched his fist tightly, and a tear splashed down to the floor. He wrenched his face up, and was revealed to have a single tear falling down the side of his face. "I HAVE to fight alone! It was MY fault I did not sucessfully save Ash, and Brock, and Pikachu, and everyone! MY fault I could not save my home!! If I had not let my guard down that night my powers were stolen, I could have been able to obliterate every single one of the damn beasts!!" His fist was shaking, and his eyes were glowing as bright as they near-invisibly could.

Figment gaped up at him. "Maru..." he softly said in awe. Elliot, though uncomfortible with the language, was nonetheless moved by his story, the big heart he had.

Maru continued vehemently, "I HAVE to go alone! Only I can fix my mistakes, only I! I alone!!" 'I...' He cut his hand across the air, opening it as he did. "NO one must be with me if I am to fully make up for my mistakes! If this means that I nearly die in the process, then so be it!! But I am FIGHTING ALONE!!" His cry echoed around the room.

Of course, despite the monolouge, he never even admitted to himself that the real reason he had to fight alone was because of his pride. Thankfully, Flora was smart enough to see through this, and flew down to him. Maru suddenly found he had a glowing red spot on his cheek shaped like a hand, his head turned away to bare this spot to everyone. Flora crossed her arms. "I'm sorry, dear, but even if that's part of the case in your belief, it's not the real reason, and you're a young man, not a child!" she scolded, a hurt expression on her face. "You're being too proud. It's obnoxious." She lifted an elbow in the dragons' direction. "They both fought alongside you, and you saw how well they fight," she pointed out. "Especially little Figment! He's brave, Maru, and, although childish at times, more mature than you seem to be sometimes, like now." She sighed and shook her head in disappointment. "Maru, dear...you also have to realize that just because you think it's your fault your world was swallowed up by a force that is beyond many's power, it doesn't mean that it has to be just YOU who reclaims your world in order for your 'sin' to be erased." She put the word in quotes verbally in a way she knew clever Maru would pick up on.

"You can save your world with help," she continued to explain, opening her arms. "You probably can't do so without it! No one person could cut their way through swarms of Heartless and restore their world all on their own. Sora, Riku, and King Mickey all couldn't have survived alone, and they are all very strong fighters. I doubt even Cloud or Sephiroth could do so alone." She sighed again. "Dear, please, don't you see? You have to put that pride of yours into a pill and swallow it, bitter taste or not. But, like any bitter taste, it will fade in time. You'll see. But, although I believe you'll never forget this, you must never forget that you must be able to defend yourself, should the situation arise. As for now, though, please...don't be stupid." She flew closer to Maru, who was looking away now, quietly fuming. She put her hand on his shoulder gently. Maru wanted to push it away, but when he looked into her eyes, he just couldn't. Those concerned eyes, full of hope for him. "Dear, please, I don't want to see you hurt. Nobody in here does," she said softly. "We want you to achieve your goals, but you can't do it without any help! There are just too many Heartless out there for one person to face alone and survive."

Maru looked away; it was too hard for him. 'She's...she's right,' he knew, 'but...' He looked at Figment. Then at Elliot. Then at Merlin. Fauna. Merryweather. Flora. Then something hit him. '...Ash would have said the exact same thing...' Finally, he closed his eyes, bowed his head, and then opened them and looked up again. He nodded. "My friend would say the same thing," he admitted. "And it would not be fair to ignore the one I am trying to save."

Flora smiled. "Thank you, dear," she said, relieved. "You've just looked like a man, not just a young man. It takes a much more mature person to accept help than it does to reject it." She flew up and over to the other fairies. "Now, dear, please stand in the center, would you?" she asked sweetly, readying her wand.

Maru, embaressed, wiped his tears and then stepped forth. 'Think I got a little too poetic, there...and I cannot believe I was just scolded by a fairy!!' He stood and looked up at them. "Could you get this done with quick?" he asked. "I don't want to wear these tattered clothes much longer. But don't touch the cloak," he added with an edge to his voice.

Merryweather and Fauna frowned, but Flora smiled. "Alright, then, dear," she said, and fired her wand at him. Maru, not expecting this, brought his arms up in defense, and got hit. A second later, he found he was wearing red clothes, somewhat fancyish. He sweat-dropped.

Merryweather flew in front of her sister(?), and said, "No, no, no, he doesn't like that, he'd prefer a cool color, not a warm one." She zapped Maru then, and blue clothes went onto him. "See? They look much better on him!"

Fauna shook her head. "I'm afraid you're wrong, a secondary color would look better on him, by far," she argued, and zapped Maru, as well, putting green clothes onto him.

The three proceeded to take turns zapping Maru, one at a time, until their target, now quite annoyed, shouted, "WILL YOU MAKE UP YOUR MINDS?!" and stopped them.

They sighed and nodded. "Alright," Flora gave in. "Girls? Together, now..." And, in one smooth, fluid motion, the three brought their wands up, back, and then forward as they zapped Maru one last time, but in unison...well, almost. Flora and Merryweather zapped a fraction of a second together before Fauna.

The result, instead of a black outfit that Maru would have been okay with, was a very surprising one, indeed. While his cloak remained the same--shortened, though--and his belt buckle was the exact same as when he'd won it so long ago, he wore a completely different shirt and pair of pants. His shirt was just a plain t-shirt, with designs, but no pockets, or shoulder armor, or zippers, or anything. The shirt was mainly pale lavender, but the front torso had a dark violet semi-circle with a pattern of triangles in black lines over it. The sleeves each had a sort of wave design, of three rows of semicircle "waves," one on top the other. Nearest the elbow was violet, farthest was black, and between was dark violet. His right sleeve bore nothing, but his left sleeve bore a single crescent moon.

His pants were much different than his old ones, and much different than his "SERIOUS" pants he'd been wearing for an hour and a half. He wore deep violet shorts kept up by a black belt(under which the shirt was tucked), but over the shorts were light grey leggings, attached via zippers that went from the middle of each legging on front to the front of each on the back. Also attached to the shorts, by hidden buttons this time, were a pair of large, encompassing pockets with no real fabric front, but only very loosely woven strips of black fabric, like a net. [Yes, I'm changing what he wears from the picture I did of him. Those colors were TACK-AY!! Below were an intricate array of a few large bands and strips and bits of denim, which hung around his leggings from one point, right below the net-pockets. Braids of black, white, and grey fabric attatched from the leggings to the bands, and more went from band to band, the bands hanging from the one above. A triangle of fabric hung on its own near the middle of the shin towards the inside of the leg, and a broken band hung near it. A final band hung down above the ankles. The leggings ended precisely so that the black shoes, with decorative zippers on the outside of them and a deep violet tounge, were visible, but the socks still weren't, and that the leggings wouldn't hinder them. They covered the back and sides a bit, but not too much. The leggings were loose and somewhat baggy, and comfortible to move about in, and didn't feel too binding. On Maru's hands were a pair of palmless fingerless gloves, violet with a black and yellow triangle design on them over the top of them. A thin black belt attatched them to the hand around the wrist, and a large cuff with a pattern like bricks went down a hand-length from the belt. Maru looked very interesting, indeed.

He looked at his new outfit, holding up his hands and seeing the actually very nice-looking gloves, with the brick patterned cuffs that were red and grey with thin mortar, with an odd dark brick here and there. He somewhat liked the brick pattern, since it reminded him of solidity and defense, as well as resistance. The leggings were quite interesting and intricatly done, pleasing to the eye. He moved his legs a bit to test how binding the leggings were, and ran a bit. 'And they don't restrict my movement, either, as big and baggy as they are,' he noted. 'Surprisingly very light, too.' His shirt, he was okay with. (He didn't care about his shoes, as long as they weren't pink or big and goofy.) He turned his head and smiled up at the faries. "I like it," he said. "Not bad."

"We're so glad you like it," Merryweather said, smiling. "Although, it was meant to be more black..." She looked at Flora. "Did we go a little too early?"

Flora nodded. "Probably," she agreed, "but violet is such a wonderful color for him." She and the other two smiled down at him sweetly. "But those clothes aren't just for looks, you know," she pointed out, as if she were hiding some extra surprise.

Maru tilted his head. "What do you mean?" he asked. "I mean, they will keep me warm, but...do they have some...magical properties?" he guessed.

The fairies smiled and nodded. Flora zapped him once more, saying, "I think you'll like this, especially when in battle, Maru."

Maru instinctively held up his arms again, and then he closed his eyes as a flash of white light filled the room. 'What?!' He felt his body change shape, and the clothes meld into him. A hidden power within them seeped into his bones, and he felt only the cloak and the gloves remain physically on him. 'What the hell?!' This feeling was familiar...He felt something appear in each hand, and he reflexitively grasped a rod-like object in each. After a moment, Flora told him to open his eyes and look at himself. He did so and felt his heart stop dead.

He was back to normal. NORMAL-normal. As in, HE WAS A POKEMON AGAIN!! A smile creeping onto his face, he whipped around to check himself. Although his gloves were now red, as was the tone of his body, he was a Mewtwo again! His cloak had lengthened back to its former length, and he was in his birthday suit, mainly, like all pokémon, and he had legs that could take out a truck, and, as he felt it, his head was streamlined and had hornlike ears again. His finger count was back to three each, and his toes were the same way. He couldn't surpress it: He jumped and whooped in indescribable joy. "YES!!" He then tried to use telekinesis on a chair nearby. His joy faltered a moment as he found it wasn't quite as effective as he'd wished. He tried projecting his thoughts, but it didn't work. Baffled, he looked at himself again.

In a lapse of attentiveness, he'd forgotten he was now holding two keyblades: One was his normal one, in his right paw, and his left held one that was chrome, and looked a lot like a modern house key, with a long row of jagged teeth along the barrel, facing away from the "edge," the side that was used to slash with. Attatched was a keychain of a simple keyring. He looked at the two weapons in wonder. "Where'd THIS one come from?" he asked, holding up his left paw. "And how come I'm b--a strange creature?" he added.

Flora smiled. "We're giving that keyblade to you, Maru," she explained, "and that form is one you can name however you wish." She smiled. "A gift from us."

Fauna came in. "And that form...well, we weren't expecting you to change that much, but what lies in your heart dominates what you look like when you're in what's called a Drive form." Mewtwo gave a quizzical look, and she giggled at how cute it was, all catlike and such. "I see you like that form, so there's an incentive to work together," she reasoned, and then explained, "You see, Drive forms are forms you take when you summon the power of one of your teammates and combine it with your own. Sora used them a lot last time, using clothes we gave him, and he could transform into five different forms by the time he was finished with his journey...Although one of them was an accident and he couldn't enter it completely at will..." She waved a hand to dismiss it.

Merryweather continued, "Sora called that form, dear, 'Valor,' and it increased his physical abilities as well as gave him another keyblade to fight with. Only through Drive forms can you do this. He drew the power of his teammate Goofy, who provided extra defense." She motioned to Elliot. "I suspect your large friend Elliot over there would be the one to provide your own Valor form...or however you wish to call it."

Mewtwo jerked his head, said, "Huh?!" and whipped around to Elliot. Elliot had his eyeridges raised, and a hopeful look on his face. His ears waggled a little bit cutely. Mewtwo couldn't help but sweatdrop and think, 'Well, if this is the form I take, at least it means I'm not actually FUSING with him...' He surpressed a shudder and went on to ask, "Who said Elliot was coming? I thought Figment was the only one to come with," of the fairies, who he turned to again.

Flora frowned at him. "Not again, Maru!" she admonished. "Elliot is an excellent fighter, and was trained by Goofy, in fact. Goofy is the captain of the guards where His Majesty the King resides, and Elliot was a very good pupil of his. Just like how Figment was trained to use magic by Donald, the court magician who also accompanied Sora."

'I wonder if I'll ever meet this Sora person at some point,' Mewtwo mused. 'I hear so much about him.'

Flora continued, "But anyway, Maru, dear, with this form, you'll be able to unleash punishment upon those wretched THINGS called the Heartless! It's only temporary, though, and afterwards, you must restore the energy of the clothes until they allow you to Drive again. Sucessful attacks will help this along, but the discs like the one you probably used before your forray into the fray--" she giggled at her little pun "--will not recharge it. There...IS a trick, though, they will allow you to do, though..." She giggled again. "That you'll have to find out for yourself!"

Mewtwo raised an eyebrow. "If I can become this powerful form, I will have to," he replied. 'Anything to become myself again, however breifly.' While the fairies had been explaining, he had thought to rifle through his attack memories, and compare them to how he felt his body was now. In this form, he was able to jump higher, run faster thanks to the ability to propel himself with some telekinesis, however weak, and, with his dual keyblades, attack much better and faster. 'I think using some physical attacks will be safe in this form,' he thought, and therefore decided moves like Brick Break could be used, as well as a few throws, physically. Vital Throw would be okay, but he'd rather not waste precious time with it, and he could apply the principles of moves like Cross Chop to his weapons. He grinned as he thought of all the ways he could finally have some FUN. 'Ooh, I'd LOVE to see another fat Heartless try and smash into me, just LOVE to!'

Flora smiled warmly. "Well, dear, I'm sorry, but this was a preview, and a way to give you your new keychain, which changes the form of the keyblade depending on the chain," she said, and zapped Mewtwo. In another flash, Mewtwo was Maru again, and fully clothed. He sighed in defeat. In his left hand was the keychain, and he decided to try and switch the current one with that. He did so, the keyblade going transparent in his hand when the old one was removed, and transforming in a flash of light as the new one was attatched. "You're a smart young man! That's exactly what you do!" Flora praised, clapping her hands together.

Maru nodded and put the old keychain into his back pocket. He found there was a handy strip he could clip it to and did so, securing it in place. "Thank you, ladies," he said, putting his keyblade away, "for all of this. I am indebted to you." He bowed.

The fairies blushed and went, "Oohhh," together. "You are such a gentlemen, Maru!" Fauna complimented.

"And you don't need to do anything for us little old ladies," Merryweather added, batting a hand. "You've more than earned this!"

Flora nodded. "But there's something else you should probably use," she said, raising her wand.

Maru sweat-dropped, and Figment groaned behind him. "What, MORE stuff?" the dragon whined. "We should get going, already! Sorry, but I'm getting a little impatient." He crossed his arms and tapped his foot.

Flora chuckled. "I see your mentor has rubbed off a little bit on you," she noticed, and then brought her wand down. A small flash of light emitted from it, and a trail of sparkles flew from it, around everyone's heads, and out the door. "And Figment, you should probably be quite pleased at this, then," she added.

Everyone had a curious look on their faces, but then a low hum was heard. The people in the room turned and gasped at the very blocky spaceship that hovered up into view out the window. Figment jumped for joy. "THE GUMMI SHIP!!" he cried in joy. He raced to the window to find a latch so he could jump right onto it.

Everyone except Leon and Maru laughed(those two not laughing because they're badasses and had to keep their image). "Now, you should probably say goodbye to everyone before you go," Merryweather advised. "I mean, hey, don't be so anxious to go somewhere so soon. You've got an incredible adventure ahead of you, and you probably won't be actually sleeping for a while. It'll be tiring on the mind, staying up and fighting constantly. One of you has to drive, and all of you have to keep an eye out for enemy Heartless ships as you go between worlds."

At this, Maru spun around, wide-eyed. "'Between worlds?!'" he repeated. "Are you saying that..."

"Yes," Leon said, coming forward. "You're going to be going to other worlds. It's the best way to find clues when this world is deplete of them." Smart boy he was, he used a reason that would appeal to Maru; duty might not go well. He stopped in front of him, arms crossed. "It's a tough journey you've got," he told him. "You'd better be careful, especially after all the hell we've gone through to help you get dressed." He couldn't help but smile at his little joke.

Maru sweat-dropped and couldn't help but chuckle a little. He bowed to him a bit. "Thank you, Leon, and everyone, thank you," he said, turning and opening his arms to indicate the room. "Thank you for...helping me, and for withstanding my personality for so long. As well, thank you for your hospitatlity, as well," he added, bowing again. "And for teaching me some humility." He looked to Flora. "I think this is still a bit much for simply beating off a few thugs," he joked, smirking.

Flora laughed. "Oh, you can never give too much," she said. "As long as you really want to give it all." She smiled and waved. "Well, I suppose you'd better be off, dearies," she said.

Merlin smiled and strode over. "But Figment, you should take this, too," he added, and gave him a small book. "It's a journal. You should record what happens. Or at least SOMEone should."

Figment sweat-dropped(first time he'd done that, btw). "Uhh...I don't have good handwriting," he confessed. "Maybe Elliot?" He offered the book to his larger counterpart.

Elliot waved his hands and shook his head, going "Uh-uh!". "It's way too small, and I can't write," he reasoned. Maru translated for everyone, feeling a small bit of joy at being the only one able to understand Elliot.

Figment sweatdropped again. "Uhhhh...Maru??" he asked, offering the book.

Maru sweatdropped as well. "Er, I don't like writing by hand, and besides, I'll be too busy..."

Figment anger-veined. "Y'think I won't be?!" he asked.

But before an arguement started up, one single, small, peircing voice rang out a very familiar: "HEY!!"

Instantly, every head turned at the single voice, and they all registered "annoying" from that one word. A small, floating orb of light, it seemed, with delicate clear wings like a fairy's, was in the place the voice had came. It flew over, sort of making a sparkling sound as sparkles fell from its body and disappeared. "You know, I'd be glad to keep a journal," the little creature said. "I can hide in Maru's shirt and observe everything, which I'm very good at doing. I don't really have much use except for guidance and having an entire encyclopedia of random facts in my head--mainly about enemies--so I'd be great at this!" The little thing's high, light voice sounded feminie. She floated around in front of Maru.

Maru blinked at it, wondering what it was. "Err...and you..." Then, something startled him. He smacked his forehead. "SHIT! That reminds me! I can't believe all this talk of worlds and such hasn't reminded me before!" He rifled through his cloak, hoping he still had it. Finally, with a huge sigh of relief, he brought out a small envelope, bent and slightly torn. He opened it and brought out the letter. "Still intact," he mumbled in relief, and put it away, smiling. He grinned at the ball with wings. "Now, if memory serves me right, you're Navi the fairy, aren't you?" he asked.

The blue ball bobbed up and down. "The one and only!!" she said, and then realized something and asked, "Wait, how do you know me?"

Maru smiled, and replied calmly, "If you're here, I suspect we'll be finding out eventually." He nodded. "You can accompany us as journal-keeper, just as long as you don't nag us about anything." He eyed her in a way that seemed to mean well, but Navi saw a feirce fire behind those eyes, ready to scorch her if she decides to nag about something.

Navi sweatdropped a tiny little bit. "Y-yes, Maru, I'll...at least TRY not to nag," she promised. "But if I figure out a way to beat an enemy quickly, I think I have the right to tell you."

Maru nodded. "That is, if I haven't figured it out yet," he added. "But...you can't carry that thing in my shirt, it's too--" he began, talking about the journal.

In a tinkle of light, a small notebook was produced by the fairy. It floated in front of it magically. "I have my own journal, thank you," she said, "one I can shrink or grow to suit my or others' needs. If you need to look at it, just tell me. But after I'm done writing in it." She shrunk it in another sparkle and flew over to Maru's chest. "Er...anywhere I can get a good vantage point?" she asked. "I wish you wore a hat..."

Maru smirked. "You can just hide in one of the folds of my cloak's collar," he offered. "Just make sure not to move anything in there. I've got a potion left still and that envelope, which is very important, so don't touch it. Unless you can touch it up," he added. Then he sweatdropped. 'Great, now I'm starting to make puns...NOT a good sign...'

Navi chirped, "Okay!" and flew right in. Her light disappeared from the room. Maru looked back and saw her just, really, disappear. He shrugged and turned to Figment and Elliot. "Well, let's say our goodbyes and get anything we need, and we can leave," he told them. He started walking out.

"Maru!" Flora called.

He stopped and let out a "heh." "What, some OTHER thing I need?" he asked, turning his head.

Flora nodded. "A wish for luck," she said, smiling. She waved. "Goodbye, you three! Good luck!" The other two fairies did the same.

"May fortune find you safe, young lad!" Merlin said, waving.

Leon just lifted a hand. "Don't get yourself killed, got it?"

Maru smirked. "I'm not going to," he promised.

"Bye-ee!! Bye!!" Figment called, waving and walking out.

Elliot said his own goodbyes while he stood to wait to be in the rear, so as not to bump into anyone on accident backing out.

Finally, the three--er, four, actually--left. The door closed. A few seconds passed, then Elliot stopped back in, exchanged some words with Merlin(who could understand him thanks to his great wisdom), who summoned some special armor just for Elliot that he strapped on to protect his arms and front, and left.

*****OBTAINED "New Home"*****

*****OBTAINED New Drive Form (Currently Unnamed)*****

- - -

Maru noticed the somewhat light armor as the big guy rejoined them. "You really need that?" he asked, raising an eyebrow. "I mean, your front, I can understand, but your arms?"

Elliot nodded, smiling. "It kinda hurts a little when you have to be a living sheild, and swords and stuff hurt a lot more," he explained. "Besides, it's better to fight those stupid black things with something real than nothing at all or some toy thing." He shrugged and smiled down at Maru. "By the way, thank you, erm..." He frowned and put his paw to his chin in thought. Maru supplied his name. Elliot snapped his fingers and nodded. "Maru! Sorry, I forget some things sometimes," he appologized, shrugging and smiling embaressedly.

Maru shook his head. "We all forget some things," he reasoned, "so it is not all your fault." 'He's a bit...dorky, but I feel more relaxed around him. His aura is soothing to me.' (Maru couldn't see auras anymore, but he could sense them again during the fight. He was startled when he found Heartless gave off no aura.)

Elliot nodded again. "Well, anyway, thank you so much, Maru, for letting me come with you," he continued. "And I swear, cross my heart and hope to die, that I'll help protect you." He bent his upper body and put an arm over his chest in a mock bow.

Maru bit back the retort that reflexitively rose up, saying he didn't need to be protected, and instead said, "Thank you, Elliot. And I hope that this journey finds that bastard who stole both of our former power. I suppose it took some time for you to grow to that grand height, didn't it?" he asked. He knew that creatures that grew to be quite large also prided themselves in that size, and so he knew how Elliot must have felt.

Elliot nodded, but not solemnly or sadly or anything. "I don't really mind that much that I'm shrunk down," he said. He chuckled. "At least I'm not going to make any more holes in school houses the size of a...really big tree!" he compared, a little embarassed he couldn't come up with anything better.

Maru thought a bit. "Oak tree?" he suggested.

Figment, who'd been listening to an exchange of normal speech and babble, now looked up in curiousity, a confused expression on his face. "Okay, what the heck are you talking about now?" he asked. "First it was some emotional stuff, I thought, but now you're talking about TREES?!"

Maru tried not to laugh, and instead focused on striding out into the canyon, which now had the great ship (Kingdom model) in front of the city walls. "We were talking about his size, and he tried comparing himself to a tree," he explained. "But he couldn't think of a good kind. So I helped him."

Figment grinned. "Another victory for the imagination!"

Maru rolled his eyes. "Please, stop right there," he asked tiredly. "I just want to get on this ship and get to work."

"Yeah, besides, this chapter's taken way too much of our reader's time, anyway," Figment mumbled.

Maru blinked. "Huh?"

Figment quickly shook his head. "Nothing, nothing!! Just mumbling!!" he covered, laughing a little.

Maru sweatdropped. "Then again, I probably don't want to know," he muttered. They got to the ship. "What's this thing run on?" he asked. When no answer came, he looked down to Figment. "Do you--Er..."

The dragon had donned a big, silly grin. Maru turned to Elliot, who was smiling great and broad, a very content and happy one. Maru sweatdropped. "Smiles," Figment explained. "And I think you might need to do something more than just that smirk you use so much," he broke the news to Maru.

Maru sweatdropped even more and stepped back. "I-illogical!" he stuttered, chuckling a little. Figment laughed at the unintentional joke. "I mean, really, smiles generate no power!! ...Well, no, I take that back, they are prone to generate emotions, which have a power all their own," he complied, "but I've yet to see something that runs on emotions." 'But there's no way I can smile a full smile! I wouldn't be caught DEAD!'

Apparantly, he'd never seen that one very scary card I found once of him laughing, open-mouth. shudders That was just DISTURBING...gets smacked with a chalkboard eraser OKAY! OKAY!! ...Figment waggled his claw. "You're not going ANYWHERE until you smile. You don't have to do it all the time, just now and then is fine." He smiled broadly. "C'mon, lemme see a smile!!"

Maru looked back to Elliot, who nodded encouragingly. He gulped and looked to see if nobody was around. Alone. 'Here goes...' He pulled one end of his mouth up, then the other, but very slowly, twitching. A weak two-ended smile was on his visage, but it made Figment shake his head and make "more" motions. Blushing deeper and deeper, Maru stretched his mouth up more and more. But he let it fall. "I can't," he said, "I just can't."

Elliot frowned. "Come on, it takes more to frown than smile, so why couldn't you be able to?" he asked.

Maru sighed. "It...goes against my nature," he confessed.

Figment sighed. "Well, think of something that would make you laugh, or at least feel very happy," he suggested.

Maru nodded and closed his eyes. 'What would make me happy...' He imagined Giovanni blowing into smithereens, along with Team Rocket. THAT worked.

Figment shuddered, and Elliot let out an uneasy grunt. "Uhh...we're not looking for sadistic, here..." Figment informed him. "Happy. Think happy!"

Maru clenched his fist. 'What memories of mine are happy?!' he wanted to scream. 'I have none...' But then he thought of something. The day he's finally back to normal.

Figment clapped, and Elliot gave a sound of approval. "Yes! That's IT! Wonderful!!" the little purple draggy cheered. Maru opened his eyes, a happy grin on his face. "I think the ship's got a big boost, there!!" Figment said, nodding to it. He stepped over and opened the cockpit(huh-huh...cockpit...huh-huwhap). "Come on!! And Elliot, don't worry, it's big enough for you!" he called, and hopped in.

Elliot smiled and, after a moment of figuring it out, clumsilly crawled in, making the ship sag a little bit. Maru just vaulted into the cockpit, and into the front seat. "Well, what are you waiting for?" he asked Figment and Elliot. "Show me how to fly this thing!"


	5. 06: Open Your Heart,,,

**Bit 6: (Intermission)**

The Gummi ship broke the atmosphere of the world, and a wonderous sight met Mewtwo's eyes as he looked out of the cockpit window. It looked like space, sort of, but it was much different. Sure, there were stars, but there were clouds of shine, swirls of vibrance, and curtains of shimmer, as well. 'I suspect nothing less from the world between the worlds,' he mused. He looked around. "Where do we go first?" he asked.

"Well, it's your pick," said a little black-nosed chipmunk in Disney Castle uniform, who had helped teach him how to fly the Gummi ship and had accompanied Sora on his journeys. He pointed to a little video screen on the right side of Maru's dashboard, or really control panel. It displayed a map of sorts, and a few globes that each had their own unique icon were present on it.

"The ship's sensors indicate three worlds we can go to," explained a red-nosed chipmunk enthusiastically. "You just touch a globe to set a course to that world, then hold on and try not to doom us all!" He grinned.

The black-nosed one bopped the other on the head. "Dale!" he scolded.

Dale chuckled and held his head where he was hit. "Yow! Heheh, sorry, Chip, couldn't help it!" He looked up at Maru again, who was raising an eyebrow. "Really, though, you'd better be careful. There's always been Heartless and Nobody forces trying to destroy us as we travel to different worlds. But don't worry!" He held a finger up as he stood straight and confidently.

Chip continued, "After you clear a path through the enemy's forces, you can warp right through to the world you need to get to." He nodded. "Just don't forget that, to avoid wasting any time!"

"Yeah, it's not like we have all the time in the world!" joked Dale, who laughed. Maru smacked his forehead and commented that that was pretty bad. Dale laughed and put his paw behind his head. "Aw, I don't care, as long as I think it's funny!" he replied, then scampered off, Chip close behind, to his station.

Maru nodded and cracked his knuckles. "Alright, then," he said, and looked at the map. One world had a beautiful cathedral surrounded by a medival city. Another had a vast forest and a European-style castle-English, Maru identified-on it. And a third had a modern city, a beach, and some hills with a checkerboard pattern on the dirt parts exposed, as well as a large loop-de-loop. This one was so different, with the checkerboard pattern and loop, that it piqued the pokémon's interest first. "I think this one," he decided, and touched it.

A label under it appeared. "No name recieved," it read. A note after it said, "Reach world to determine name."

Maru nodded. "Alright," he murmured, "let the quest to recover my powers begin." He put on a friendly smile as best as he could and looked at his teammates, however much he prefered to do things alone. "Are you ready?" he asked.

Figment figeted violently in his seat, the seat belts a smidgen big on him. "Ready-ready!"

Elliott gulped and nodded slowly. "R...Ready," he replied. He was kinda afraid with all the danger ahead, but he remembered he had to be brave, so he shook his head and sat upright as best he could in the seat. He wasn't really used to them, but it was the only way he could be safe, no matter how big he was for them. The belts were a bit small on him, in contrast to his purple teammate.

Maru turned his head a bit to look as behind as possible, and looked down with his eyes. "You think you'll be fine just in there, Navi?" he asked.

Navi peeked out a bit. "I'll be fine, Maru!" she assured. "Just don't crash, okay?"

Maru smirked. "I won't," he said, and Navi popped back away. Maru turned to the front and nodded. "Okay," he announced, "let us begin!"

He stepped on the gas, and the Gummi ship shot off, heading for the new world.

I could tell you about the journey there, but all I'll say is that it was pretty basic for Gummi ships. Maru got used to the controls of the ship, and everyone pitched in to defend their vessel pretty well. At the end, actually, Maru was grinning genuinely, since he, literally, had a blast. Okay, it was smirk-like, but it was still a grin, pearly-whites in full view and all. "I think I am going to look forward to these flights quite a lot!" he commented as they left the route behind.

Figment laughed. "Against your nature, huh?" He raised his eyeridge at Maru's great smile.

Maru chuckled. "I had fun, what do you expect?" he defended. "How do you feel, Elliott?" he asked, looking over, then raised his eyebrows.

Elliott was looking a little more green than usual. "Erm..." he murmured, "I'll...be fine...just a little bit weak from when you went so close to that wall at the end..."

Maru chuckled. "What, are you saying my driving is dangerous?" he asked, and shook his head. "I would say I did well for my first try, personally." He dropped the smile and looked out the window. The world, exactly how it looked on the map screen to his right, was ahead of them. He looked at the map. The world now bore the title "Mach Paradise." Maru raised a purple eyebrow at that. "'Mach Paradise?' Interesting...I wonder what speed has to do with it," he mumbled. "Well," he said louder, "shall we disembark?" he asked.

The group was beamed down to the world a la Star Trek, sort of, and started off in an alleyway. As soon as they 'landed,' one of the green discs that Maru and Figment had seen in the Crystal Fissure at Hollow Bastion appeared below them. It made sense, as it was their entry point; may as well be an exit point, too. The group walked out to the rest of the city and looked around, wide-eyed in wonder at being in a new world.

They were somewhat disappointed, though, except for the mainly-country-dwelling Elliott. It looked like a normal city. Maru looked around and read a few signs: "Station Square Train Station (-." "Station Square City Library ^." "Station Square City Hall -)." He turned to his companions. "It appears this city is known as Station Square," he informed them. He pointed to the signs when they looked at him inquiringly. He looked up. "I wonder what we should do here, though...I don't see any Heartless."

Not only that, but there were people, too. A few, though, since this part of the city looked like it was actually somewhat calm. A few cars drove by, some pedestrians walked about, and, what really surprised Maru, nobody really made any special remarks to the fact that he was with a pair of DRAGONS, of all things. The humans just walked on, with only a glance. Some people just gave a few seconds look, then went on their way.

"Where to first?" Elliott asked in a low voice, sounding a little uneasy. Maru relayed the message.

"Wherever there's trouble," Figment replied, shrugging.

Maru "hmph"ed. "Well, let's find some," he suggested, and went to the crosswalk. 'Where there's trouble, there might be that man...' After looking both ways, the three began to cross.

It was then that Mewtwo met the fastest thing he'd ever seen in his entire lifetime. Very face-to-face, too.

As Maru fell, he saw a blue blur streak off. Not far, though, since he heard a screeching noice as he landed on his side. Surprise overtaking rage at the moment, he quickly got up to see what the heck ran them over.

"Woah! Sorry, there!"

Maru looked around, then down, and something in him froze, as if he were looking at an archenemy (oddly enough, he felt somewhat hot in the collar, too, as if something-it didn't feel like a lifeform, more like a bit of metal or something-was heating up). But all he saw was a blue hedgehog of about three feet in height.

The hedgehog nodded. "I just came around the corner, and BAM!, there you were," he explained.

Maru just blinked. "Erm...that's...alright," he decided. 'Best not to cause a scene...'

No sooner had he said these words then the blue hedgehog smiled and said, "Okay, then! See ya!" Then, in a streak of blue, he shot off, clouds of dust behind him.

Maru blinked, standing a bit, before he remembered to get across the road, but he still stared after the creature. "That is the fastest thing I've ever seen," he murmured.

A woman standing on the sidewalk, hearing this, said, "What?" and came over. "Fastest thing you've ever SEEN?" she asked incredulously. She scoffed. "That's the fasted thing ALIVE!" She laughed and walked off.

Maru chuckled. "Well, until someone beats it," he added. He looked to his teammates. "Are you hurt?" he asked. They shook their heads. "Then let's go."

"Wait, Maru," Figment called. Maru stopped. "I think we should follow that guy," he said. "He looked different from the other people here, and he may lead us to something."

Maru raised an eyebrow. "Now, the question begs to be asked-do you suggest this because you really did just have a moment of intelligence, or because you just want to hang out with him because he looks fun?"

Figment blushed a bit and stamped his foot, frowning a bit. "HEY! I have my head in the game, here!" he defended. He turned and crossed his arms, closing his eyes. "Besides, who says it can't be both?"

**Bit 6: Mach Paradise**

The three went down that road, and soon ended up in the main square. The train station was there, too. A few people were around, like in shops and such. No sign of the hedgie, but after asking about, Maru found that he went down some way, and then another, and another. It was a few areas until they finally exited the city altogether. They were now on a road, but a great feild on a slope stretched to their left, and a beach to the right, sloping downwards. The road looked like it could lead anywhere. Nobody was around, they thought, so they went to a tree on the feild side of the road.

"Where could that hedgehog be?" Maru asked, walking to the tree. "And how the heck can we find him?"

Elliott perked his ears up. "Hey, Maru," he said, and looked behind him. "I hear someone coming...pretty fast."

Maru looked over. Then, as the someone came over the hill of the beach side, he sweatdropped again. This one looked stranger still. A pink hedgie this time, wearing a red dress and running pretty fast in heeled boots. She had a girly smile on and giggles coming from it. As she passed them, she said to nobody in particular, "Ooooh! I hope I'm not too late! I'll have him this time!"

"Who?" Figment asked, somewhat rudely. Elliott gave him a hard stare for it.

The pink hedgehog stopped and looked around. "Huh? Oh," she said, waving a gloved hand dismissivly, "just my dreamboat, Sonic."

"Sonic?" Maru repeated, stepping up. Elliott blinked in surprise at Maru being somewhat rude, too. "Is there any chance that his name is from his speed?" he asked. "We are looking for a very fast blue hedgehog, see, and..." he trailed off, unsure of what he should say. He didn't know if he should reveal much of anything to someone who he really didn't know he could trust.

The girl giggled and nodded her head. "Yep! That's my Sonic!" she confirmed. "And I'm the one who's gonna be his wife someday..." She spun around once, then winked and posed. "Amy Rose!"

Maru nodded. "Well met, Miss Rose," he replied, then got down to business. "Do you know where he is at the moment?" he asked. Elliott just gave a sigh that silently said "I give up."

Amy nodded. "Yup! But..." She raised an eyebrow and crossed her arms. "What do YOU guys want with Sonic?" She looked Maru up and down, and her gaze darkened a little. "You'd better not be thinking about hurting him, or else!" she threatened, suddenly producing an enormous hammer from behind her, out of nowhere.

""WOAH!"" said the two dragons at the huge hammer. But Maru just raised his eyebrows, simply surprised that she could hide such a thing behind her petit body. He decided that he'd better not venture into the logic behind it, since he DID survive getting hit by something going at LEAST 75 mph with only a small bruise. He instead held his hands up and shook them. "No, no, we mean your friend no harm whatsoever," he assured her. "Trust me." He glanced at Figment and Elliott, and they got the point and nodded, trying to look friendly.

Amy softened her gaze. "Well..." She lowered her hammer finally. "Okay, I guess. But try any funny stuff, and..." She twirled her hammer around her hand skillfully. 'She's had that awhile,' Maru thought. Amy smiled and put the hammer away, as mysteriously as she had drawn it, and turned, beckoning with her hand. "Well, c'mon!" she called, and started trotting off.

Maru looked at the others, and the three nodded together. They took off after the little pink hedgehog as fast as they could. (Although, of course, for poor Elliott, this wasn't very fun, and on the way to Sonic, he mumbled how he should lose some weight.)

"Where's Sonic now?" asked Maru as he caught up with the unsurprisingly fast hedgehog.

"He's stopped, for some reason," she replied, pointing to the distance, "past Green Coast." She made a worried groan. "I'm not getting a good feeling about this..."

Maru "Hmmm"ed to that. 'This girl...' he wondered, looking at her. 'She's got to be somewhat psychic. There's obviously an emphatic link between her and Sonic. Although...I wonder if it's just her daydreaming...'

They got to a great clearing of that strange, checkerboard-patterned grass that they'd been running on for awhile. 'What's with the checkers?' Maru wondered, looking around. The sea, with a sandy beach between it and the grass, looked normal and calming. In fact, it was actually rather calm, despite a small breeze blowing off of it and filling the air with a salty scent. Something in Maru said, "Calm before the storm," very faintly. Ahead of them was that gigantic loop, which seemed to be completely natural. 'And that loop! What the heck is with this world? I mean, what's next, people running around the outside of a loop and not falling off?'

Amy slowed and stopped, saying, "Wait, Sonic's coming back here! Let's wait for him, he shouldn't be long!" She grinned and got as centered as possible with the path, facing the loop ahead of them. Maru and the dragons gratefully stopped to rest. Elliott just fell flat on his butt, he was so tired. He panted wheezingly, tounge lolling out comically.

"You ever try flying?" Figment asked his green companion.

Elliott shook his head. "Can't fly too long now," he panted back, Maru relaying. "I don't know why."

"It must be from the curse or whatever affected you back at Radient Garden," Maru decided, crouching down as he rested. "I cannot see any other reason. I mean, unless, well..." He sweatdropped. "No offense, but maybe it's your size?"

Elliott shook his head. "Naw, I've always been able to fly before, and for a while. Not only that, but I prefer walking when I'm with friends." He gave a weak smile as he panted on.

Maru gave a small smile back, then turned to look at the path. Amy, it seemed, wasn't tired at all. "Any-"

"HE'S COMING!" Amy squealed, jumping up with her hands to her chin in fists. She bent her legs up as she jumped, and she looked like an excited little schoolgirl. "You're not going to get away from me NOW, Sonic!" She got into a guarding position, like a goalie protecting the net.

Ahead, Maru could see three streaks of color, one blue, one yellow-orange and following closely to the blue one, and one red and lagging just slightly in the rear. "Who are those two?" he asked, but no answer, since Amy knew that they'd get there in only a few seconds and they could tell who they were themselves.

Ahead, Sonic was running along, but then, he finally made out the pink blob in front of him. He gulped. "Amy?" He hit the brakes abruptly, the other two doing the same. He stopped in a huge cloud of dust right in front of her. Immediately, he sweatdropped.

"SONIC!" Amy cried, and leapt forward and embraced the blue hedgie as if she'd never let go. Maru and company could see the uneasy look on Sonic's face. "Where've you been?" Amy asked, looking with such affection at him that it was almost scary. Hey, she had the puppy-dog eyes and everything on!

Sonic pushed her away gently. "Now's not the time, Amy," he told her, face serious. "Knuckles and Tails have just told me some things that are pretty serious."

Maru looked behind him and saw a red, dreadlocked, spiked-boxing-gloved echidna and a small, yellow-orange kitsune with twin tails. He assumed their names on their features. The fox went first. "Okay, now, first, you've gotta know that, for some reason, the president's not responding to any calls Rouge or Shadow have made, nor anyone, in fact. Heck, nobody at all is in the White House, no one at all!" He sounded quite young. His face bore worry as he continued. "Not only that, the rest of the government isn't responding to anything, either. G.U.N., the police, courts-nothing, no one!"

Amy made the "yeek" face. "That's not good," she said.

Maru and co. stood up and walked over as Knuckles began. "And as for my news, some weird white things and a guy in a hooded black cloak...coat...thing, something like that, took the Master Emerald!" He punched the ground aggrivatedly. "Ticks me off!"

Amy gasped. "What?" she shreiked, looking at him incredulously. "Was it Eggman?"

Maru stepped up. "How did the guy in the cloak look?" he asked fervently.

Knuckles looked up in surprise at him. "Who're you?" he asked somewhat rudely.

Maru, focused on getting answers, anger-veined. "Did you see him?" he asked again, firmer and more agressively.

Knuckles shook his head. "No, not really," he said. "I just saw his back. He was kinda short, too. One second he was there, the next, he and the white things had somehow picked the Emerald up and disappeared, as if they went into shadows. Well, okay, the guy disappeared, but he left those white things for me to play with," he corrected himself, grimicing. "Pretty annoying, if you ask me." He frowned and growled. He was one unhappy guardian.

'Nobodies!'

"But that's not all," Knuckles went on. "I'm feeling something big's coming, something REALLY big." He looked uneasy. "So big, I doubt that we're gonna be able to handle it, even all of us together..."

Maru nodded. "I've been feeling some foreboding since I got here," he agreed, crossing his arms, "and it's been escalating gradually ever since, now that I think about it." He clenched his fist. Suddenly, his chest clenched, and he snapped his head up. "On your guard!" he cried, summoning the Keyblade. Following suite, Figment grabbed his deck and drew a hand, while Elliott, after an exasperated groan, simply stood in a fighting pose, since his armor was his weapon.

The furries (dragons discluded) gasped at this, but they had no time to react to them. Instead, they had to react to the swarms of Heartless that had just appeared. "WHAT THE-?" Sonic cried.

Maru looked at the frightened-speechless Amy, then had an idea. "Amy! Those things are here to steal Sonic's heart!" he cried, and it worked like a charm. With a feirce warcry, Amy had begun to attack any and every single Heartless around her with fervor. "NOBODY TOUCHES MY SONIC!" she bellowed, swinging away with her Piko-Piko.

Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles sweatdropped at this, and turned to Maru. "How'd you do that?" Sonic asked.

Maru smirked. "I'm observant," he replied, before the Heartless finally got to the point where he couldn't dilly-dally any longer. The three began to fight, and soon, the three other ones began fighting, too.

Sonic turned to Tails. "Tails!" he called. "Fly to the city and warn the others!"

"Right, Sonic!" Tails replied, and twirled his tails like a propeller and flew over the battlefeild and off at top speed towards Station Square.

Maru, back to fighting again, was happy for the moment, happy and hateful at the same time. He still desired vengence against the Heartless for stealing his world, and he also had fun fighting because, well, he's Mewtwo, whad'ya expect? He kept his head, though; he decided to wait until the best moment to enter a Drive form. He ended up not doing so in the battle.

The battle ended, Maru dealing the final blow. He got up after looking around for any more danger. "Anybody hurt?" he asked, looking around.

Sonic and company were fine(Amy was standing and panting like an enraged woman who had just finished her warpath), Figment had suffered only minor wounds, and Elliott was pretty fine, seeing as his armor and bulk helped him out a great deal. The enemies were true pushovers, only a mere 15 Shadows, one Darkball, a couple Large Bodies, and five Soldiers. Nothing the group of fighters couldn't handle. Maru was actually impressed at how well the natives fought.

Maru nodded. "Right, then." He kept his Keyblade out, though. He turned to Sonic. "If they're here, then they should probably be at the city by now," he told him. "I advise we get there right away."

Sonic, although he had just fought things that could steal his life away, smirked and gave the poké an eyebrow-raise. "Who the heck are you? And what were those things, too?" he asked, standing and crossing his arms.

Maru closed his eyes, bowing his head, then opened them and looked up. "Maru. I'm the newest weilder of this, the Keyblade, and I'm to fight those things, called Heartless, to prevent them from stealing peoples' hearts. If your heart is stolen, you become a mindless Heartless. And if Heartless find the heart of a world, then that world is gone, until the heart is retrieved." He turned to the path back to the city again. "Let's get going. Now."

Sonic nodded. "I hope Tails is okay..." He began running, but as he got to Maru, he grabbed his hand and dragged him along. "Sorry, but you're a bit slow for my tastes," he explained, grinning mischeivously.

Maru grimiced. "As long as we get there quickly," he mumbled. He looked to his sides. Amy had grabbed Figment, who was lightest, and the impressively-strong Knuckles had grabbed the 800-or-so-pound Elliott. They all three ran along quite fast, and their 'luggage' had to scamper along after with great steps. Except Figment; he was literally flying behind Amy, which made her life easier.

They arrived at Station Square again, no problem. The only real problem was that the city was EMPTY. Cars were stopped in the middle of the road, some swerved to the side and now in buildings, but no drivers. That, and, ah, the sky was starting to get darker, since black, ominous clouds were brewing above them.

Maru was on edge, now. "This is exactly what happened to my world!" he realized. "Shit!"

Knuckles and the hedgies slowed down and their passengers got off the ride. The reason was that there were now Heartless appearing all over. "Great, more fun," the echidna said, cracking his namesakes.

"SONIC!"

"Tails?" Sonic looked up as the cry echoed off the walls.

Tails was puttering in the air around the corner, and he looked so relieved when he saw his best friend(and role model, sorta). "Sonic! Come quick! The square's still safe! Hurry!" He flew off again.

Maru got his Keyblade ready. "Go on! We'll handle them on our own. You need to focus on running, and we just drag you down," he said.

Sonic nodded, then turned and ran off. The other two followed him.

Maru and the dragons ran after them on their own, fighting as they went. "Maru," Figment called as they ran along.

Maru grunted as he latched onto the back of a Large Body, starting to have his Slashfest on it. "What?"

Figment blasted a group of Heartless with a ring of Fire. "That was kind of you to let them go first," he complimented. "I thought you'd want them to take us with again."

Maru leapt off, said, "Screw it," grabbed the arm of the tubby Heartless, and then gave it a Mario spin-throw, slamming it into the carpet of Shadows ahead and clearing a path. "That would make progress a slow process," he answered back. "And in this world, speed is everything!" He ran along his path he'd made, the others following.

They got to the square and saw a menagerie. Everyone was used to seeing so many animals, though, so it really wasn't so much a surprise at the races, but at the amount. There were Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, and Amy, of course, but there were also a bee, a crocodile, a chameleon, a weasel, a silvery-grey hedgehog, an armadillo, a very bulky blue-violet cat with a frog on his shoulder, and some others. They were crowded around the grey hedgehog, who was speaking fervently. Maru and crew arrived as he said, "I don't know why, either."

"Why what?" Maru asked, stopping close.

The grey one looked over and raised his eyebrows. "A human? Still alive?" He looked surprised.

Maru shook his head. "Yes and no. I'm not from here, and it's a long story," he explained. "Do you know what's going on?" he asked.

The hedgie shook his head. "One second I'm in my own time, and then, BAM, the whole world starts to fall apart," he explained animatedly. "I met Blaze and we were able to travel back in time thanks to a portal made by Nega to when the event to do that to my time occured, but we were separated." He drooped his head a bit at this. "I hope she's okay..." He looked up again and motioned around with his arms. "I came out here in the middle of the city. A few minutes ago, people suddenly started getting attacked by those black things, disappearing. Some fought, and I didn't see everyone go, but..." He trailed off concernedly.

"Silver!" called Sonic. "Do you know where Shadow is? He'd really help out a lot."

Silver shook his head. "No, sorry, I don't," he replied. He sounded worried. "And I agree, he'd be a big help."

Maru thought a little bit on his own, half-listening to these guys. 'Why would the Heartless appear so fast? And why would one of those guys take a gem?' "Is there anything in this world that has great power that would be catastrophic if held in the wrong hands?" he asked aloud, to anyone.

Sonic nodded. "There's Knuckles' Master Emerald, and then there are the seven Chaos Emeralds," he replied. "I've used the Chaos Emeralds a bunch of times to stop Dr. Eggman, who tries taking them a lot. Speaking of, I wonder where ol' Egg-head is..." He looked around.

Silver gasped and put his fist in his palm in the "I've got it!" gesture. "That's it!" he cried. "These things are after the Emeralds so they can use them for whatever evil purpose they have!...They ARE evil, you'd agree, right?" he asked, looking around.

Everyone agreed, nodding and making sounds of it. Sonic held up his fist. "Then the first thing we need to do is find the emeralds before they do!" he asserted.

"It's too late, Sonic," Maru said darkly. Everyone looked at him.

"What do you mean, too late?" the blue hedgehog asked. He waggled one finger at him. "It's never too late for the world's fastest-"

"You don't get it!" Maru shouted, fury in his eyes, cutting him off with a chop of his free hand through the air. "This exact thing happened to my world! It'll take nothing short of a miracle to stop it now!"

Sonic grimiced. "Boy, Maru, you're sure optimistic," he grumbled sarcastically. "You know more about this kinda stuff than we do, then, so why don't you come up and explain?" He motioned to the center. Silver still stood there, slightly amazed look on his face at Maru's knowledge of this.

Maru nodded. "Alright, then," he said, and waded through the short creatures, alone, and to the center. He stood and spoke. "The black fiends attacking are known as Heartless. They are single-mindedly obsessed with stealing peoples' hearts, and are produced from the darkness within our hearts, as well as attracted to it. They also seek the hearts of worlds, and that is why I am here." He held up his Keyblade. "I have the power to seal the heart of a world, which should stop this, but as far as I can tell, it's getting to be too late for that."

Silver interrupted, "NO!" Maru looked at him. He was standing in a determined, brave stance, with a matching face. His fur collar fluttered in the breeze starting up then. "There's GOT to be a way!" he cried. "There HAS to!"

Maru shook his head sadly. "As far as I can tell, unless we find something called a Keyhole, and not just any ordinary one, this world is most definitely doomed," he explained.

Silver put one foot forward. "That's the way!" he concluded. "We just have to find this Keyhole...but I bet it won't be all that easy, will it?" He raised an eyebrow.

Maru shook his head again. "No," he replied. "From what I've heard from Merlin, a wise man who told me a great deal of this information, I'm pretty sure that Keyholes are found purely by chance," he reasoned. "I highly doubt that we're going to be able to find the Keyhole in time."

Sonic stepped up, smirking. He thumbed his nose. "You don't know who I am, do you?" he asked. "I'm the fastest! No matter the time limit, I'll get there with minutes to spare!" he boasted.

Tails piped up. "Maru," he said, flying over and baffling Maru in terms of the fox's anatomy, "I've been with Sonic for a long time. He's telling the truth! He can do it!" He landed and smiled hopefully.

Sonic grinned down at his best friend. "Thanks, buddy!" he said. Tails nodded.

Maru hmphed. "Well, then, Sonic?" he asked. "Do you have any ability to sense energies? Or, at least, anything that helps to detect anomolies in the space-time continuium? By the sounds of these Keyholes, I'd say they'd be letting off quite a lot of that sort of energy, since they lock this world from other worlds trying to steal its heart," he reasoned.

As expected, Sonic was caught off-guard as soon as Maru started talking about space-time. Silver rescued him, however. "I'm able to sense things like that," he said, thumbing his chest. "I'm psychic."

Maru raised an eyebrow. "Really? What can you do?" he asked.

Silver smirked. "This," he replied, and picked up Maru entirely with his mind. He gave off a green aura, unlike Mewtwo's blue or Mew's pink.

Maru laughed. "Okay, I believe you," he admitted, and he was put down. 'Not bad.' "I suspect you're fast, too, right?" he asked.

To his surprise, Silver just planed his hand. "Faster than you, but I'm not really a _huge_ runner," he confessed. "Blaze is faster than I am. I wonder where she is...since she's psychic, too-a pyrokinetic." He looked around hopefully.

Maru was about to ask if he had tried using telepathy when, suddenly, a woman's voice cried, "SILVER!" The crowd looked around, and there, on top a short building, was a lavender cat-'What, is that just a popular color for us?'-and a small, cream-colored rabbit, who also had a little cyan thing with her wearing a tie. The cat took the rabbit's hand and the two leapt down.

"Cream!" Amy cried. As they landed, Cream went to Amy and cried. "There, there," Amy cooed the child, patting her back.

The cat raced through the crowd to get to Silver. "Silver!" she breathed. "Found you!"

Silver's face brightened considerably. "Blaze! You're okay!"

Blaze stopped by him and shook her head. "Really no time for that," she said. "These black things are looking for the Chaos Emeralds, I can tell, and for something else very powerful," she informed them. "I don't believe they have any yet, but what they don't have we should keep them away from." She sounded a bit strict.

"That's where I come in," another female voice came.

Everyone looked up, wondering what they were looking at. A large robot came stomping along one road, but that wasn't the person. A figure dropped from the bottom of a windowsill on one building, and a few people pointed and immediately said, "Rouge!" as a well-endowed female bat swooped down into the square. She smiled her smile, and the first impression that Maru got was "hooker." "If you've got anything having to do with jewels or gems needing to be done, I'm your girl," she said, producing a blue one.

Sonic laughed as the jewel was brought out. "We'd expect nothing less than a Chaos Emerald already from the infamous jewel theif!"

Maru was confused('An emerald? It's blue!'), but the sky above darkening more alarmed him. "No more time to waste!" he cried. "We need to find that Keyhole, now, or else!"

Silver grunted in helplessness. "If only Shadow were here, he could reach the Keyhole and find it in no time!" he wished, looking up a little at nothing in particular. He looked at Blaze. "Have you sensed anything odd lately around here?" he asked. "Something maybe similar to the energies in the place between times?"

Blaze nodded. "I passed by a place known as Green Coast, and I sensed there was a Keyhole nearby there," she replied, turning to get ready to go there if need be.

Maru gasped. "You're joking me?" he asked disbelievingly.

Blaze shook her head. "It's too long a story. If you think it's what you need, it may be our only chance," she told them flatly. "And there's no more time to lose!"

Maru nodded. He looked over to Figment and Elliott. "Stay by the entry point!" he called. "If things begin flying upwards, get to the ship without me!"

They gasped. "But Maru!" Elliott protested in a shocked tone.

Maru shook his head. "We've got to get to the Keyhole," he said. "Blaze is right-there's no more time to lose!"

_"Hey!"_

Maru spun around. Sonic had grabbed the Emerald from Rouge. "Then this might buy you some!" he called. He held the blue gem up, paused, and cried out, "CHAOS CONTROL!"

After a moment, Maru, Blaze, Sonic, Tails, Rouge, and Silver all were enveloped by a green flash of light. When it faded, the six were in the same spot that the fight earlier had occured in. Maru raised an eyebrow. "I sense nothing along the lines of space-time here, except the residue from that Teleport," he grumbled. "But thanks for getting us so close."

Sonic chuckled. "Shadow's WAY better at it than I am," he confessed.

Rouge snatched the Emerald back roughly. "I'LL take that, thank YOU!" she huffed. She immediately put it in the safest place she had on her, if you know what I mean.

Maru rolled his eyes. He turned to Blaze and Silver. "My powers are weak-I'm a psychic, too-so do you two sense anything?" he asked.

Silver nodded. "I do," he said, and pointed past the loop. "I feel something over there."

Blaze agreed. "That's where I sensed it before," she told Maru.

Sonic smirked. "Then let's get going!" he said, and grabbed Maru's hand. He turned to Rouge and Tails. "You two fly along with, or head back to the square! That is..." He looked down. "If it's still safe..."

Maru growled, "It'll be safe once we get to the Keyhole and I seal it!" He began running forward to the loop to express his impatience.

Sonic ran and trailed him along, going at a much faster speed than before. "You may experience some turbulence!" he called as Maru began flying out from Sonic. Behind them, Blaze had grabbed Silver (the differences in speeds must have been significant enough to merit it) and was following, and Tails and Rouge were flying along, aiming through the loop.

Maru had never been on a roller coaster before; he considered his flying to be thrilling enough. But now, doing an enormous loop, clutching to Sonic for dear life, he had a feeling he knew. Sonic was amazingly strong-legged to carry him, despite the fact he'd lost at least half his true weight in the transition from Mewtwo to Maru. It was amazing, the thrill of the fact he might die at any second and the speed of the means by which he was traveling...He made a mental note to get on some coasters when all this was done and over with.

They weren't going fast enough, though; people and objects were slowly beginning to fly off. Mid-loop, Maru saw the orb in the sky appear. "Not good," he said, but not even Sonic heard it. But Sonic was smarter than he looked. He had a bad feeling about that cloud, and the fact he was having a harder time running. He gripped Maru's hand with all his might and executed his Super Boost move. Behind him, Blaze had executed Fire Boost. And, pretty soon, as they fell down the other side of the loop, two loud BOOM's were heard by all but Maru, who went deaf.

It was more like a silent 4-D movie, now, with every sense barring hearing going on as they sped along an unknown path towards a green hill ahead. 'Holy shit,' was all Maru could think as he sped along. Navi had flown out of his collar and was hanging on for her dear little life, sparkles making a streak in the air, blurring behind them. Not just that, but the ground was starting to become the sky, if you know what I mean, he could feel it. First leaves, then entire trees began ripping up and going into the vortex. Animals, both anthropomorphic and feral, soared into the gaping hole in the sky. Maru saw, as they traveled through a forest, specks of people from the city being swallowed up. And a few glints of light, too. Tails and Rouge were nowhere to be seen.

To his other side, he saw Sonic had slowed down some to be beside Blaze so they could communicate. Amazingly, they were talking, despite them not being able to hear...right? Soon, Sonic had to take some turns, wild ones, through the forest. Maru was whipped around like a ragdoll, his arm screaming in pain, but he vowed not to fail.

Soon, though, it was appearing to be too late. Sonic and company were straining to stay grounded, until Silver decided to use his powers to push them to the ground. Maru tried his best to help but, although he had been getting slightly stronger at it, he couldn't do much to help. But he tried anyway.

Barren forestscape around them formed. Maru didn't like it, not one bit. 'I want this to END,' he thought. But then, he began sensing something, and his heart fluttered. "The Keyhole!" he cried, despite nobody but himself hearing through the vibrations in his body. In seconds, Maru finally heard the BOOM! and he began to slow down. "I sense it!" he shouted to Sonic.

Sonic nodded. He slowed down until Maru fell and had to run himself. "Put your own brakes on!" he told him. He did, skidding with his weight as far back as possible, and Sonic put his on. Blaze did, too, Silver just floating and stopping along with her.

When the ride came to a complete stop, the four looked around. It was barren, of course, but a spot in upturned ground still remained. It was radiating invisible vibes of energy that Maru felt not just in his body, but in his hand. "Hm?" He looked to his right hand, which still clutched to the Keyblade. It was shaking. He nodded. "I found the Keyhole!" he cried in joy, pointing to the spot. They ran over, and saw, indeed, a keyhole-shaped hole in the ground.

Maru nodded, and was about to point his Keyblade at it when suddenly, everyone flew up. "NOOOO!" he cried. He looked at Silver.

Silver was almost off to dreamland. "I'm...sorry..." he whispered. "It became...too...powerful to bear..."

Maru nodded. "Not your fault," he said. He looked down at the ground falling away from him at a rapid pace. Then, he had an idea, thinking about some examples in the journal. "My last chance!" he cried. He pointed his Keyblade at the Keyhole. He focused all his spiritual and mental power into it. It began to glow bright, the keychain fluttering wildly, then slowing down. He felt time slow. Behind him, the portal snapped up first Blaze, then Sonic, and, with one last wish for luck, Silver. But he paid no attention. He focused only on that one spot below.

And the Keyblade snapped to point at it.

As the darkness once again enveloped him, with one last almighty scream, Maru shot a beam of light at the Keyhole. 'That's it...I did it...' he thought weakly. 'I...was still fast enough to get it, just before I get swallowed up again...'

_CLICK!_

Like an anchor to a ship being blown about at sea, Maru stopped, right midway inside the darkness, from the beam of light that acted like a tether to the world below. With a gasp, Maru held on for dear life again, feeling the gravity vortex grow stronger and stronger. "Unbeleivable!" he breathed, awed at the power of the Keyblade. "It's...it's locked me in place!"

From the Keyhole came a burst of bright light. The light spread outwards, illuminating everything. Maru had to shut his eyes, unable to cover them with a hand since both were on the Keyblade's hilt. He felt gravity return below, and the Keyblade sucked him towards the ground safely. Behind him, the vortex shrank...shrank...shrank...Slowly, so slowly...

Maru landed gently, as if floating down. He turned to look up, the vortex now a bead of darkness. But then, right before it disappeared, it exploded into a burst of darkness. Maru felt the ground begin to shift underneath him. "Crap!" he said. "I thought I saved it!" He gave one last look at the Keyhole. It seemed fine. Then he noticed a green disk had just sprung up nearby. "I'm too late anyway..." He ran towards it.

As he left, he thought he could hear one single line being sung by the winds...

When he got back onto the ship, everyone cried out in joy. He pushed them aside and raced to the cockpit. The sight he saw made him gasp. The world below had become dark and desolate, distorted. The map screen showed the world now had the title "Mach Purgatory" underneath it.

Maru just stood there, staring at the world below him. "I failed..." he whispered. He sank to the floor slowly, not caring that he didn't find a single clue to his past, and instead caring that he'd failed to save a world. "I failed...again..." He'd been failing a lot lately: Failing to save himself, failing to save his friend, failing to save a world.

Figment and Elliott came over. Figment put his little paw on Maru's back gently. "Ya didn't fail, Maru," he assured him softly. "You saved it...It's still there. It's just...different..." He REAAALLLY didn't like the name the ship's computer had made up for that world now.

Elliott put his enormous paw on Maru's back, even gentler. "It's alright," he said, "I'm sure that they'll be just fine..."

Maru closed his eyes, breathing deep. "You didn't see how many people got sucked up, still," he told them quietly. "Rouge, Tails, Blaze, Sonic, Silver...and I think the Chaos Emeralds, did, too..." He shook his head. "I still failed..."

Suddenly, the ship's computer beeped. "New energy reading found!" it alarmed. Maru and the rest looked up at the map screen. It was flashing red, and new readouts were visible. "Seven new energy readings picked up that are availible within projected maximum range of trans-world access. Unable to confirm precise locations with current technology."

Maru sweatdropped at this. "Oh, no, don't say we've got to find a Microsoft dealer around here," he murmured, like it's the end of the world.

"Update needed to access locations of energy readings. Radient Garden Electronics possibly has the item needed. Set a course for Radient Garden Electronics?" the computer queried.

Maru, Chip, and Dale all shouted, """NO!""" at once.

"Are you sure?"

"""YES!"""

"Alright...Resuming normal operations." And it was silent.

Chip sighed aggrivatedly, shaking his head and putting it into his hand. "I never should've let them install that voice software," he murmured. "It's so annoying...worse than Dale..."

Dale glared at the other rodent. "HEY!"

Maru gave a small smile, while the other two laughed. Maru sighed and got up, then looked at the world below. He whispered before he returned to his chair.

_"In this world of worlds, every step meets the risk."_

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Yes, edited this chapter because I didn't know that the events of Sonic '06 actually never happened. (No, no retcon. I'd say play the game, but I've heard awful things about it, so...read about it. Or YouTube it, like I did.) Fixed it. Also did some edits to make it a bit better (like the bit right before the official title of the world; originally, there was some redundancy that wasted time). (In case any of you are wondering, I'm going by the theory that Blaze ended up in her world and the way '06 played out had her forget all about it, too, and since Silver is from the future of Sonic's world, the two have yet to meet. Wish I didn't have them meet (since I bet they will canonically someday), but I've really got no choice ^_^; ) Noticed these mistakes when re-reading to do research for writing the next Bit of Ash's story (after he first gets the Gummi ship) and, since I had to open up my computer (which I'd been leaving alone since I have to get it fixed and I'm not gonna really need it over the next few days as of this note), I decided to edit this NOW and not forget. Wish I had both the time and the knowledge of what to do to edit all the other old stuff I've been re-reading...X.X;


	6. 07: Get Fuzzy

**Bit 7: (Interlude)**

There was the world in front of them, the one with the forest. As it turned, a castle became visible. Maru nodded. "Well, good enough place to go," he decided, and stood up from his seat.

Figment held up a paw. "Hold it, there, Maru," he said, making him stop. He smiled and pointed down to the world. "Take a look at the computer again, because there's something interesting about this world you've got to know."

Maru raised an eyebrow, then turned again to face the computer screen. He saw a little note blinking. He leaned over and read it. "Interesting," he said after, standing straight again. "No humans whatsoever on that world."

Figment shook his head. "Nope," he said, "only animals. So, that means you've got to blend in!" He grinned and riffled through his deck, looking for a card, apparantly.

Maru tilted his head and crossed his arms. "And how do you you propose I accomplish that?" he asked. "I can't Transform...yet," he added under his breath.

Elliot scratched his head with what had looked to be hair at the end of his tail, but was instead a sort of hand. "Maybe...you should wear that stuff that hunters wear nowadays?" he suggested, raising a claw. (You could tell he's from a slightly different time period than the others.)

Maru shook his head, chuckling. "No, Elliot, I don't need THAT kind of camoflauge," he answered, "but I need to look like I'm one of the people down there."

"And I've got the answer right here!" he chimed, holding up a unique white card with a double question mark on it.

Maru widened his eyes. "What're YOU doing with a Missingno?!" he asked incredulously.

Figment looked puzzled. "Missingno?" he repeated. "No, this card here," he corrected, holding it in front of his face, "is one that makes the person holding it look like something else, depending on the world." He proudly crossed his arms and poofed out his chest. "I made it myself without ANY help from Donald whatsoever!" he announced.

Elliot, up and out of his chair and walking about to look out the window, smiled at the little guy's pride, then remembered something, looking at the castle and a new thing that Maru hadn't noticed, a fair of sorts somewhere in the woods. A little more looking at the world, he thought about the experience he remembered. "Hrmmmm..." He turned to Figment. "How many of those things do you have?" he asked.

Figment blinked at his rotund friend. "Uh, I think you mighta forgotten this, but, ah, I can't understand a word you say," he reminded him, shrugging the "what can ya do?" shrug.

Elliot went "Oh!" and moved his head back as if surprised, then grinned sheepishly and blushed.

Maru got the idea, though, from what Elliot said. "Figment?" he asked. "Are you sure that they wouldn't overreact to seeing a pair of dragons? I mean, the last world was weird by nature," he pointed out, then pointed at the world in front of them, "but we don't have a clue about that one. And, from the looks of it, it's in the medival period of Europe, specifically England." He sighed and closed his eyes, like Team Rocket sighing as they wish for a meal. "Unlike Japanese me, the English and Europeans in general regard dragons as if they were devils sent from the bowels of hell to plauge humanity," he reminded them.

Elliot crossed his arms and nodded, looking a little serious, and Figment gasped. "Oh, fiddlesticks! I forgot!" he cried, putting a paw on his forehead. (''Fiddlesticks?!' Who says THAT anymore?!...') He grinned nervously and laughed so. "Well, ah, I only have this one card," he revealed, and held it to the pokémon. "I only made one, for you. I just thought that we'd have to, well, I dunno, try and convince them that we're nice and won't hurt them if they don't hurt us!"

Maru sighed aggrivatedly, anger-veining slightly. "If I know average people, they'll either shoot first and ask questions later--"

"--or run and not ask questions at all," Figment guessed, and Maru nodded. He sighed and bent forward a little bit. "I'm sorry, both of you," he said, "but we'll just have to try our best!" He stood up straight and got that familiar mischeivous, confident expression again, and he held his fist up like Ash would.

Maru chuckled at that. "Well, then, let's go," he said, putting the card into a pocket on his leggings. He looked to Navi. "Are you better, now, after that whole ordeal back at Mach...Paradise?" he decided, trying to smile comfortingly.

Navi poked out of the collar and 'nodded.' She was nice and blue again, and had looked rather green before from the running and the scare of flying off into oblivion. "I'll be fine!" she assured him, and Mewtwo felt like she was giving a thumbs-up. "You do your stuff, and I'll just watch those stupid Heartless!"

Maru nodded. "Right." Navi poked back in and Maru stepped to the "airlock" that they use to go between world and ship. Chip and Dale waved bye and bade good luck, and the three thanked them.

*****RECIEVED Transform Card*****

- - -

A bear and a fox, both clad in green, were walking through the woods, singing a little song(that anyone who's been online would quickly recognize as the hampster dance tune). They went to a little pond and had a bit of fun, at least until some dog(?) guards came and tried to fire at them. They tried to escape, but for some reason, their pursuers were a bit smarter. And, no, they didn't duck into a room and quickly hide inside a cardboard box. Cardboard wasn't even invented yet ;)

"Oh, dear," said the fox to his bulky companion in a British accent, "it appears that we're to have a bit harder time than usual."

The bear shook his head aggrivatedly. "I TRIED to tell ya, Rob," he admonished, American accent(dunno which city, though), "they'd get smarter one of these days, but NOOOO..." He slowly rolled his head like one would roll thier eyes.

The fox screwed his face up in thought, but then he saw a furry face stick out of the woods ahead of him. It jerked in one direction, and then disappeared. The fox smiled, then looked up to his friend. "Did you see that, John?" he asked in a low voice.

The bear nodded. "Sure did, Rob, but can we trust 'em?" he inquired, voice low too.

"It's our only chance!" The fox leapt to the place where the face was, the other following, and then gasped.

The pursuers saw this, a ways behind still, but when they turned and looked down where they saw the two duck to hide, they saw them in plain sight! Well, two figures, one normal-sized and skinny with a large tail, and another that looked large and quite plump. They were in the shadows of the trees, though. Wary for a trap, the dogs pulled back on their bows. Suddenly, they heard someone call out, "We give up! You've got us now, I'm afraid!" It sounded like the fox, for sure.

"Yeah, we'll even raise our arms up, like good crooks!" said the bear. As he said this, the two figures raised their arms in the position of surrender.

The dogs looked at each other and nodded, then advanced forward, looking to the sides to make sure it wasn't some elaborate trick that would get them jumped on. However, when they kept going forward, it seemed to be real, for once. They smiled and went to them. "Alright, then," said the one in front, the leader, "we'll just take you a--" He had put his paw on the side of the big one and turned him when he froze. "DRAGON!!" he finished, and the one in question spread its tiny wings and let out a roar that scared the bunch right out of there.

As they fled, laughter erupted from behind the dragon. Turning and smiling, the dragon looked up and saw the fox and bear up in the dense branches above them and behind a bit, laughing wildly.

"HOO-HOOOO!!" went the bear, and beat his fist on the branch. "That was GREAT!! Ha-HAAH!"

The fox was just shaking his head with a paw on his forehead, laughing. "Ooh-ho-ho, dear, yes, that it was," he agreed, nodding to his companion. "We sure fooled them!!" He chuckled a little and looked down with bright eyes. "Thank you, dear strangers!" he called down to the dragon and the other one there. "We owe you for your services!"

At this, the bear stopped laughing and sat up, wearing the "waitaminit" face. "OWE them??" He looked at his friend. "Now, wait just a minute, Rob! We don't got no money!" he protested, holding a paw out.

A chuckle and a shake of a head from the one standing beside the fire-breathing beast. "No, please, we're quite fine, thank you," he said. The two now-safe pursued ones dropped down--the fox nimbly leaping down entirely, and the bear hanging onto the branch, bending it a bit, before plopping down--and looked at the speaker. He stepped out into the light to reveal himself as a strange critter, indeed. He was a cat, but a pale lavender one entirely, with a long, surprisingly thick, violet tail. He wore no shoes, and stood on his toes. He had on a pair of light grey, many-pocketed trousers, a plain white button-up linen shirt, and a long, whethered brown cloak of sorts. His violet eyes were pretty serious and intimidating, with thick eyebrows (as in the actual ones, not the hair parts) over them, and his ears were thin and slightly bent at the tips, looking sort of like strange horns. His hair was as violet as his eyes, and was neatly brushed and pulled back into a ponytail. The cat's whiskers where short and few. He had on a smirk, as well. "That was actually quite fun," he told them, uncrossing his arms.

The fox gave a thoughtful eyebrow-raise and smile to him. "I see," he replied, nodding with a paw to his chin. "And who, may I ask," he went on, glancing at the large green one to his left, "may you be?"

"I'm Maru," the cat said, bowing, and he pointed to Elliot, "and this is my draconic ally, Elliot."

Elliot raised his eyebrows and turned his head to Maru in surprise and a little shock. "'Ally?'" he repeated incredulously.

Maru waved his hand in the "not now" gesture. "Our other dragon friend, Figment," he continued, "was the one who hid in behind that tree." He pointed, and Figment came out, grinning broadly and scampering over.

"Hel-lo, there!" he greeted friendilly, holding out his paw.

The fox chuckled and crouched. "Well, hello, there, yourself!" he greeted back, shaking the paw. "I must say, I've never seen a dragon before in my life! You two aren't scary, at all," he observed, looking from Figment to Elliot, who was holding his paw out to the bear.

The bear hesitated. "Well, alright," he conceded after a moment, and smiled at him, "y'DID just save our skins." He shook his paw.

Maru simply nodded to them. "And you are...?" he asked.

The fox put a paw to his chest. "My name is Robin Hood," he introduced, and gave a deep bow, flourishing off his feathered hat, making his companion roll his eyes.

The bear thumbed his chest. "I'm called Little John," he told them.

"And together, we do a great service to the poor people of Nottingham," Robin Hood continued. "We assist them financially."

"In a way," commented Little John, smiling and tilting a paw.

Maru raised his eyebrows, then snapped upright. "Wait, I hear something," he said softly, then strained his ears to listen. 'Was that just some trumpets I heard?'

Robin Hood cupped a paw to an ear and made a happy, "Ahhh!" He smiled and jumped up into the tree again and cleared some branches, Little John climbing up there with him.

Little John hooded his eyes and looked out. "Now what's that little shindig?" he queried.

"It looks like Prince John's having a little parade," observed Robin Hood. He smiled mischievously.

Little John scowled at the carriage being guarded heavilly by rhinoes and hippoes. Some elephants trumpeted with their trunks, on which were banners. "Big fat jerk."

"A jerk? Why?" asked Maru. "I'm not from around here," he added to explain in case it was common knowledge.

Robin Hood nodded. "Then you probably wouldn't know about how he taxes the poor so horribly," he guessed. He gave a mischievous smile. "Let's give him a little visit, though, shall we?" he asked Little John.

Little John did a double take. "On ROYALTY?!" He looked at Robin Hood like he was an asylum runaway. "Are you nuts, Rob?! Look at all those guards!!"

Robin Hood batted his hand at him. "Oh, quit your worrying," he chided. "Where's your sense of adventure?"

"Right behind my sanity," Little John replied, crossing his arms uncertainly. "Are you sure we can pull this off, Rob?" He looked doubtful, but not entirely.

Robin Hood looked at him and nodded. "Quite certain," he answered. He then looked thoughtfully at Maru and company. "And we DO need to pay back our friends here for their services," he added.

Maru shook his head and held up his paws. "No, no, please," he insisted, "don't go through a lot of trouble for a little getaway help. With a mind as clever as yours seems to be, what with catching on with OUR plan without us telling, you probably might have gotten away eventually," he assured. "We just came by the area and saw you running, that's all; nothing major for us."

Robin Hood shook his head. "But I insist!" he dropped down. "But...if you really wouldn't mind..."

Little John raised an eyebrow. "Hey, Rob, maybe we can ask these guys to help if we don't do so hot," he whispered in the fox's ear.

Robin looked at his friend with an ashamed look. "What? After they helped us already and insist having no reward? Poppycock!"

Figment, sharp-eared critter he can be, spoke up, "I wouldn't mind helping out!" Maru and Elliot looked at him in surprise. "What would we do?" he asked, smiling mischeivously.

"Just stay in the bushes and, if we start gettin' caught and it looks like we ain't gonna make it out, have Elliot jump out and scare the living daylights outta them," explained Little John. "Doesn't sound too bad, now, does it, Rob?" he asked his friend, smiling and crossing his arms.

Robin sighed and shrugged. "Well, if they don't mind, I suppose," he gave up.

Maru shrugged. "Doesn't sound too hard," he reasoned. "Elliot?"

Elliot pulled one edge of his mouth up in an uncertain face. "I don't like having to scare people, but...if it helps them out," he decided, nodding.

Robin gave no sign that he minded the fact that Elliot spoke such a strange tounge, and smiled and nodded when Maru translated. "Alright, then," he said, happilly, clapping his paws together and rubbing them, "let's get ready, Little John!" He trotted off into the woods.

"Right behind ya, buddy!" Little John called after, trotting off after him.

Maru looked at the other two. "Well, then," he said, once the two were out of earshot, "shall we go and see a day in the life of a legend?" He gave a somewhat mischeivous smirk, then trotted off (much more comfortibly in this feline form) as well, the others following.

**Bit 7(Finally!): Sherwood Forest**

As the three caught up to the two furries, they saw that they had begun to cross-dress. They even saw Little John put in some medival-era fake boobs in a shirt. Large ones, too. They saw that they also had a few bags, as well as some props, which consisted of a glass ball, some string, and a pole. The world-hoppers wondered what that would be used for.

"You'll find out soon enough!" answered Robin, who had adopted a falsetto tone to match his new disguise as a woman.

Maru raised an eyebrow and smirked thoughtfully. "This does seem like it is turning into something interesting," he commented. In a softer tone to the other two, he added, "I hope that the Heartless don't try and do anything yet."

Figment grinned and shook his head. "Me neither!" he agreed, then looked mischeivous. "Maru, I didn't know you liked to have fun!" he joked.

Maru smirked. "I must admit, I have done a bit of minor troublemaking when I was back home," he confessed. 'It's the Mew in me, I swear.'

"We're here!" said Robin in a hushed voice, stopping and crouching behind a few bushes. He peeked out and saw his target, the carriage.

Little John eyed something that four rhinoes were carrying from between two poles: A large chest, presumably full of gold. "Jackpot!" he whispered.

Maru crouched beside him. "Now, don't get too greedy," he warned, giving him an eyebrow raise. "Take too many risks, and you'll get hurt."

Robin waved his paw. "We'll be fine, Maru, don't you worry about that," he assured. "Now relax and watch the show!" He motioned to Little John and the two went forward to begin. "YOO-HOOO!!" called Robin, using his falsetto voice.

"FOR-tune tellings! Lucky charms!" helped out Little John(who didn't try and change his voice at all, which worried Maru a little.), tossing the glass ball up and down.

A scrawny, unkind-looking, mane-less lion wearing a crown that appeared a smidgen too big for him peeked out of the carriage, through some curtains on the side. He looked over at the two in disguise and his glare went into a look of delight. "OOOOH! Fortune tellers!" he cried joyfully with a drawling accent. He called for the carriage to stop, waving his arm in the air and displaying his royal-looking coat and fingers covered with large-gemmed rings. Maru assumed that to be Prince John.

A green snake wearing a small cape and a hat poked his head out and looked untrustingly at the fortune tellers coming over. He whispered something to Prince John, but he just waved him off. A second time, and the lion cringed.

"Stop hissing in my ear!" he growled, aggrivated and sticking his pinky in the afflicted body part and twisting it.

"But sire!" the snake protested, but the prince was already addressing the 'ladies' in front of him.

Maru raised his eyebrows and watched as, when the feline John offered his rings to be kissed, the ursine (bear) John did so and, after he moved a bit, revealed that Prince John no longer had any ice on his fingers of any color. "Clever one," he complimented.

Then, after a bit of talking, Robin was let in, and the action inside was blocked from view by curtains. Meanwhile, however, Little John set to work outside. While it sounded like Robin was busy giving the prince his "fortune," his partner got up on top the carriage and brought out the props from before, now rigged up to be a fishing pole with the ball attatched. He bopped it a bit, and some lights began shining inside before he gently lowered it down. Maru shook his head, smiling a little. "I wonder how dumb that prince is?"

"Judging by the looks of things, dumber than a doornail," Figment replied.

But the bulky bear didn't stop there! He looked at the wheels of the carriage, looked like he had an idea, gave a wink to where Maru and friends were, then, while nobody was looking, took off the solid gold hubcaps. Maru thought that he would try and take the ones on the other side, but he didn't. He then realized why, after a moment, and fought giggling unprofessionally. Not only that, but he also got a way into the chest, boring a hole with his dagger and then opening up his shirt to hold the stuff inside with what looked to others like a safe place. Maru had to clap his and Figment's mouthes shut when he posed to one of the rhino guards like a woman wooing a man. The rhino wiggled his ears excitedly, which didn't make things any better for the two fighting laughter.

"Having fun?" asked a voice from behind them. It sounded female, and pretty malevolent.

The three started and spun around. There was a cloaked figure, actually cloaked, with their arms hidden behind them and in the cloak. It wasn't a human, though, as a long, scaly tail and feet like a dragon's were visible, though the feet were somewhat covered by black straps at the place where they touched the ground. The scales were the same color as those of a Wyvren Heartless. The figure was, of course, hooded. "I hope you are, because then," the figure continued, "it will make things aaalllll the more satisfying."

Maru growled. "One of YOU guys again!" he exclaimed, thoughtful to keep his voice down. He pointed at it. "Who are you, anyway?"

The figure chuckled. "The rebirth of a most ingenious scheme, and the birth of a new one," it replied cryptically, bring its head up a bit. A pair of eyes reflected the light and shone a sickly green before it disappeared in a cloud of darkness.

Maru reached after it. "Wait, you coward!" he said, but got nothing but air. He grimaced. "So there IS a plot going on," he mumbled, drawing his paw back. His good mood had faded instantly, and he wasn't happy about it. He thought for once that he'd have a bit of fun, something to lighten his mood after what happened in Sonic's world, but, of course, it didn't happen. He turned back to watch the "show," but didn't really feel as good anymore.

Figment mumbled, "Great, way to go, stupid glowy-eyed killjoy," and made the classic harumphing-child-officially-in-sulk-mode throwing of the arms into the crossed position, complete with scowl.

Elliot just frowned uneasilly. "I got a bad feeling from that person," he whispered to Maru.

Maru nodded. "All of them radiate bad vibes," he stated. "I don't like it." He stood up again.

It appeared that the scheme was pretty much done now, since Robin, running along carrying a few sacks and the red coat Prince John had before and Little John, with his stuff(waving bye to the rhino, who waved back), were now fleeing the scene and making a ruckus.

"AFTER THEM!!" cried the lion, pointing and trembling with rage.

The rhinoes snapped out of whatever stupor they were in, as did the elephants, and they all charged, the rhinoes going with their halberds.

"Let's go!" Maru said, motioning, and began running to keep up with the two faux-gypsies behind the cover of the bushes. The other two followed.

As the carriage trundled along behind the rhinoes, the two wheels, now missing their hubs, rittled and rattled and jostled about, coming off, and, to the prince and the snake's great dismay, causing the carriage to fall over and into some mud. Laughing away, Robin Hood and Little John scampered off with their loot, and the others were left behind. Little John tossed something on the ground, spreading it out, and the rhinoes got there and started to slip and slide, ending up crashing into a great heap.

They got away with what must have been millions worth of gold coins and jewels. After a while, when they were gone from the wreck, Maru and the dragons ran out to run right behind them. "That was fantastic!!" commented Maru to Robin.

He laughed victoriously. "Thank you, Maru!" he called over his shoulder to the cat. Then he turned his head around to look at Little John. "I told you we'd make it!" He smiled.

But Little John was peering ahead, squinting. "What the..." he mumbled, then his eyebrows shot up. "We're not in the woods yet, Rob!" he said, pointing ahead.

"Huh? More guards?" Robin asked, looking forward, then he exclaimed, "Goodness, who are THOSE fellows over there?"

Maru looked between them and growled animalistically. "Mine," he replied, and raced towards the black things charging them ahead. "Get to a safe spot! We'll take care of them!" he said, drawing the Keyblade while he ran.

Little John and Robin Hood nodded and were about to veer off when they started. "Ah don't think that's much of an option," Little John said uneasilly, and Maru glanced to see that there were Heartless in the woods, too. These ones looked different: They were more humanlike, and they had on hats styled like Robin's and weilded black bows with no strings. They had empty quivers, but that didn't stop them from firing arrows of darkness at them. One shot through a bag of gold and it began to leak. "Woah, easy on the merchendice!" the bear scolded, drawing the bags closer.

Maru, Figment, and Elliot slowed to a halt as they discovered they were surrounded. "Not good," Maru said through gritted pointed teeth, looking around. "We have to take care of them fast, else we're going to be caught by the guards!"

"Not only that, but we're kinda defenseless, here," Little John added, crowding into the center while Soldiers, a few Large Bodies, a Fat Bandit, some of those archers, and a pair of Darkballs, formed a ring around them.

"And we'd prefer to keep as much gold as we can," Robin said, finishing the requirements for the task at hand. He looked sheepishly at Maru. "You've been helping out quite a bit, today, haven't you?" he noticed, sounding sorry.

Maru shook his head. "I'm getting used to this kind of thing," he said, and the battle began.

After the Fat Bandit shot a fireball at him, Elliot, quite annoyed, stomped over to take care of this 'rival' of size and fire-breathing(although he still couldn't do so yet, oddly). Figment went for the Darkballs, now strong enough to flit around a little bit and fire cards at them. Maru went for the Soldiers, since they were fastest. He, forgetting for the moment that his tail wasn't all that heavy, tried using a Tail Whip attack, but it didn't work. While he tried to attack normally, an arrow stuck in his arm and disappeared as he got shot by the new Heartless. Dismayed cries from Robin and John told him they were losing money and fast. 'What can I do with them?' he wondered, looking at the arrows.

He then had a risky idea. He waited for one to fire an arrow, then used telekinesis to grab it. It worked! Quickly, he held the Keyblade in midair with his left paw and, protecting himself from the damaging arrow using a small barrier with the right, pulled back with the arrow in his right, a string of energy arcing from the ends of his weapon. He felt the move Lock-On temporarilly become availible, thanks to the "chance" he felt in the Keyblade, and did so. Before he could fire away, thought many more arrows were shot. He quickly grabbed those from afar and, like a yo-yo returning to its thrower, pulled them to him, and he added them in his fingers like Sheik does her/his needles in Melee. With multiple arrows, a total of 9 now, he locked on to all 6 of the archers, two of the Soldiers, and the head of one Large Body carrening towards him, and finally let fly.

PWING! The arrows shot off and hit their targets in the heads or chests, causing great damage to them and destroying them all outright, including the Large Bodie. Instead of darkness, though, the arrows, thanks to the Keyblade, were of light. As the targets disappeared and Maru held the Keyblade again as normal, Robin Hood behind him complimented with a heart-felt, "Nice shot!"

'Hmmm...Not a bad name for that move,' he thought, racing over to a Large Bodie that remained from the continued assults from his teammates and using Slashfest.

Above in the skies, just when the Darkballs were dealt with by Figment, four Air Soldiers appeared, which annoyed Maru, who thought that they were almost done. But before he could do anything, Figment, looking at their propellers, had a burst of inspiration. He took a thick bunch of cards, at least 10 or so, held them flat to his palm with some fingers and snapped his fingers on the same hand on them. Then, he aimed at one enemy and just threw them all at once. Maru noticed the cards left a sparkling trail as they soared to their target, an Air Soldier. They hit, and then began to attack it like a swarm of flat bees. Bursts of energy from attack cards and a few spells activated from magic cards. A few moments, and the Air Soldier was defeated, the cards still swimming in the air where it was. They soon disappeared, like all attack cards do after hitting a target. Figment smirked and drew a hand like he'd just really given it to someone real smooth.

Maru couldn't help but smile at the newly-made attack, and a sucessful one, too. He decided to help pitch in on the air assult after he beat the overweight Heartless by trying out his throwing attack. He aimed at an Air Soldier, reeled back, and let fly. The big key spun around and around towards the Air Soldier...and missed, the Air Soldier evading somewhat easilly. "Dang," Maru grunted in dissapointment as the Keyblade reappeared in his paw. "Still can't do it right yet." 'Oh, well, I'm pretty decent just going paw-to...hand, I guess, by now.' He shrugged and started a little when an Air Pirate, still around after being alone thanks to Maru and the dragons' efforts, swooped down and attacked the theives. "!" He ran over and was ready for any more swoops, but Elliot stomped over and was able to nail it with a leaping spinning Slam attack with his enormous tail. The Air Soldier flew back, tried to recover, then stalled and spiraled down to Earth, crashing and dying as it collided.

The group waited a few seconds, then relaxed. "That's the last of them," Maru announced, standing straight now. The ground was rumbling, and a cloud of dust was visible behind them.

"And not a moment too soon," said Robin Hood, and the group ran off, following him.

Robin Hood and Little John made it to a little part in the woods where a sort of home had been made. "Home sweet home!" Little John said, relieved. He sauntered over to a hollow in a tree and dropped off his stuff, then proceeded to remove his disguise. "Boy, I was worried that we'd be pushin' up daisies without a single peice of money to take with us to wherever we're going."

Robin went and dropped his stuff off, too, laughing a little. "And we would have," he replied, motioning with an arm to Maru and crew, "were it not for these kind souls and their brilliant fighting skills!" He took off the fake nose and bandanna on his head and replaced it with his favorite red-feathered cap.

Maru smiled humbly and held up his paws again. "It's our job," he dismissed. "Besides, I enjoied those new enemies quite a lot. New enemies always make things more interesting for one such as me, a lover of combat who has to battle these feinds often." He smiled, then, seeing the eyebrow raises from the two natives, took a serious look and shook his head. "Not saying I liked you two getting hurt, or my teammates being harmed," he added quickly. "I'm not like that, I just like fighting."

Robin hood chuckled at this, shaking his head. "No, I didn't think that you enjoied your friends being in pain," he assured him, finishing up getting redressed into his normal outfit. "It's just I haven't really seen many people say they enjoy to fight. And that might just be a good thing." While Little John, also back in his green shirt, pants, and hat, Robin went over into another hiding place and got out a cloak, brimmed hat, cane, metal cup, and a pair of dark glasses. 'I wonder if they power up any of his Dark-type moves,' Maru joked to himself. He began putting on another disguise.

Little John raised his eyebrows at this. "Rob? Are you gonna go out right now? You should get some rest, first!" he told him.

Robin chuckled. "You sound like my mother," he teased. "But I've got to go deliver the poor people of Nottingham their much-needed money." He finished putting on his costume, which Maru had concluded to be a blind beggar's outfit, and went to the hollow with all the gold. He stowed some away in some pockets of his cloak, careful not to let it so that things jingle around.

Maru stepped up, crossing his arms. "So you rob from the rich to give to the poor, eh?" he asked.

Little John nodded. "You bet, and boy, is it a fun gig!" he answered. He got up and stretched. "But--ah, it isn't always fun and games. We've had our share of troubles."

Robin Hood nodded. "Yes, have, but it's best not to let things like that get to you," he advised, pointing with his cane. "Just because you have your setbacks doesn't mean you should give up. We, sorry to say, lost a fair bit of gold when the fight went on," he examplified, giving a friendly smile to three outsiders, who bore looks of surprise, then, especially Elliot, sorriness. "There, see?" Robin said, pointing to their faces. "Don't feel bad, you did your best, and a smashing job it was, too. We still have a lot of gold, though, so we're fine. Oh!" He stopped and went to the tree, getting out three small bags of gold. "Here, I almost forgot," he said, walking over with them, smiling. "You deserve a little gold for your troubles."

Elliot, the pure soul he was, steadfastly refused to take the money, because, even though he may have earned it, Maru translated to them, it's stolen money. He gave a stern look to the other two, hoping that would signal that they shouldn't, either. Maru declined to take the money out of politeness--"Besides, there must be other people who need that money more than I do," he also reasoned--but Figment hesitated, looked up at Elliot, and finally drooped his shoulders and sighed in defeat, then declined, as well.

Instead of being disappointed or insisting, Robin actually looked a bit pleased. He said nothing, though, and put the three bags back. He went to a part of the encampment and turned around. "I'll be back soon!" he called. "Don't you worry!"

Maru thought a moment. "Are you sure you'll be fine alone?" he asked. "I mean, the Heartless are going to be coming a lot now. Can you defend yourself well?"

Robin smiled. "I'm very good at running and hiding, believe it or not," he said. "And I'm sure I can think of something if I get in trouble. Besides, it would look very odd to have a lavender fellow following a poor, blind beggar around, no offense!" he added, laughing a little.

Maru had to admit to that. He told him to be careful, then sighed and walked around a bit, trying to find a place to sit down and rest. He then had an idea. Looking over at Little John, he saw that he was getting a clothesline ready. Nodding to himself, he went over to a private spot and set down a exit-entry disc. He healed himself, the others doing the same, and then went back over. He found a log to sit on and did so.

Little John looked over to him. "Stickin' around?" he asked. "We don't got much here, but make yourself at home."

"Thank you." Maru thought a moment. "May I ask you something?"

"Fire away."

Maru crossed his arms and put one leg on another, tail lashing a little. "What's been going on around here? With Prince John? I'm curious."

Little John frowned, getting out a washbasin. "Well, Prince John's big brother is good King Richard," he began. "The King went off one day a while back...I forget what he was doin'." He went to a nearby pond with a bucket and got some water for the basin.

Maru, having read the story of Robin Hood before (he hung out at the library a lot) and a great memory, not to mention knowing the story in actual history(yes, for those who didn't know, the story of Robin Hood actually has a bit of truth to it!), easilly supplied, "The Crusades."

Little John nodded. "Oh, yyeeeaaahh, that's where," he said. "Thanks. You know anyone who went to fight in 'em or something?" he asked, pouring water into the basin and getting more. Maru shook his head. "Anywho, after King Richard left, Prince John got to have power over the people. He really stinks, though, and he goes around spending all the money he gets from people on himself." He frowned, then shook his head in shame. "King Richard wouldn't like this, not one bit."

"So I would imagine," Maru agreed. He looked over and noticed that Figment was sitting comfortibly on Elliot's belly. Elliot had taken off his armor for the time being and was lying up against a tree, arms behind his head as he and Figment listened.

Little John, now taking dirty clothes and a washboard and starting to wash garments, continued. "Yeah...The tyrant's been raising taxes higher and higher now, and the people of Nottingham, the town where the castle is, ain't gonna last much longer." He hung up everything to dry when they got done.

Maru scowled. "Does he not care for his subjects??"

Little John shook his head. "Not really, as far as I can tell," he replied, "and he just goes and spends almost all of the money he gets from taxes on himself and barely any on what he should be spending it on! He's a greedy, no-good, dirty, rotton creep of a ruler, if ya ask me, and that's why me and Rob do what we do." He smiled at this finally after looking so dark.

"So yer vigilanties," Figment guessed.

Little John nodded. "You bet, squirt!" he teased a little.

Figment laughed. "Hey! I'm not a squirt!" he laughed. "I'm more of a 'shortstuff' kinda guy."

Maru chuckled. "You wouldn't catch me dead calling you something so dorky," he told Figment, who just shrugged.

After a while, Little John wanted to know about the two dragons and where they'd come from, and about the Heartless. Maru and Figment both thought up a cover story for the origins of the dragons, since they'd be talking about outworld stuff enough soon, then explained the whole deal with the Heartless.

After they were done, Little John just couldn't help but laugh a little. "I'm sorry," he said, dumping out the washbin since he was done with it, "but it still sounds kinda far-fetched, y'know?"

"Farfetch'd? Where?" Maru joked, looking around, and could help but laugh at everyone's looks of "Huh?". "I'm sorry, it's a joke relating to my world," he appologized. His world was the only one he told the truth about, but he never even let one word out about his ailment. "There's a bird known as a Farfetch'd that always carries a sprig of onion with it and is exceedingly rare." '...Wait, I just joked...! What is WRONG with me?'

Little John laughed. "It carries an onion? What, and I bet it uses it like a sword, too," he added, thinking he was joking. Maru just said nothing. The bear got around to getting lunch ready. "Speaking of onions, I wish we had some better things for food," he said, looking in another little stash, this one of different roots, vegetebles, and a few seasonings.

Maru nodded sympathetically. He and the others weren't hungry, seeing as they'd eaten on the ship, but he could understand one needing better food.

Poking his head up from the little pantry, Little John asked, "Hey, as long as you guys are around, would ya mind helping me with dinner?"

All three of them sweatdropped and said, "Uuuuuuhh..."

Figment held up his paws in defeat. "I don't know how."

Maru held his too. "I can't cook worth beans," he confessed.

Elliot just made a "look at this" motion to himself, expressing that he was kinda too big to help. But then he looked like he had an idea. Looking around, he saw an area where it'd be safe to try, picked up Figment for a bit, and hunkered over to the pond. He took a great breath, then wheezed out again. To his delight, some fire did, in fact, come out, but not that much. 'Perhaps enough for an Ember attack,' Maru thought.

Little John yelped. "Yo! Watch it!" he shouted, making shooing motions to Elliot. "You're gonna burn the whole woods down if you do that too much!"

Elliot stopped and looked sorry, then went back and lay down again, letting go of Figment.

Little John felt bad after seeing the expression on the dragon's face, then sighed. "Alright, you can light the fire, if you want," he said.

Elliot just smiled.

A little while later, Robin came back. Maru, Figment, and Elliot (carefully) breathed a sigh of relief that he looked unharmed. Robin Hood laughed and took his costume off. "What, you think I'd let myself die before Prince John's been stopped?" he asked, shrugging and laughing. He seemed a bit different, though, and Little John picked up on it right away.

"You've been thinkin' about her again, haven'ya," he said, stirring the soup.

Robin Hood sighed in defeat. "Yep, sure have," he admitted, going over and lying down under a tree. "I can't help it; she's beautiful!"

"Who's beautiful?" asked Figment rudely, and he got an "AHEM" from his seat for that.

"Maid Marian," answered the fox, looking up at the leaves above him dreamilly. "She and I were friends way back when we were little kids, but we grew distant after a while...But she lives at the castle, today, so it's not like I can't see her or anything," he explained.

Little John paused a bit, then looked at Robin. "Now, Rob, don't try anything stupid," he admonished. "You're a wanted man! We BOTH are! How do you think you'll be able to see Maid Marian?" (Certainly not by using a cardboard box!)

Robin sighed. "You're right, there's no way I'll be able to see her," he admitted.

"Hello?"

Everyone sat bolt-upright. Maru looked at the dragons, and they nodded and hid. Well, as best they could. A monk came into view (I forget what he is), apparantly a Fransican from his brown robe. Robin got up and smiled. "Friar Tuck!" he cried, raising his arms in the air in joy. He walked over and shook his paw. "What brings you here?" he asked, smiling.

Tuck shivered like a leaf. "It was horrible," he said. "These black beasts appeared out of nowhere, and they tried to attack the church! Thankfully, though, I suppose it was the Lord's light that kept them away, because they couldn't enter, no matter how hard they tried." He shuddered at the memory. "I had to wait for them to disappear before I ran out."

Maru blinked in total surprise. "The Heartless can't enter a church?" he asked aloud, bringing attention to himself, then he quickly put a paw over his mouth. 'Whoops...'

Friar Tuck raised his eyebrows. "Well, of course, they can! How else can they get a heart?" he answered, like it was the most obvious thing in the world. "That's why it's there! Well, one of the reasons, anyway...But who are you?" he asked.

Thanking God (n.p.i.) for the save, Maru introduced himself. "I'm just a traveller," he half-lied.

Tuck nodded. "It's nice to meet you, and I'd be happy to show you around..." He looked away. "But not only am I afraid those things might come back, but our poor town is in pretty bad shape in general. Prince John raised the taxes again."

Robin and Little John both went, "What??" slapped their foreheads, and groaned. "Great, next he's going to ask for their souls," Robin murmured.

He meant it as a joke, but Maru thought about it a little. 'Could Prince John be working with the Heartless or something?' he wondered. 'I don't know what they do with evil people, but...still, I don't like him. He sounds so much like Giovanni, what with his greed and lack of caring for others.' He shook his head to shake the thought out of it. "Any good news, Friar?" he inquired.

Friar Tuck finally smiled. "Why, yes, I do," he answered, then coughed a couple times. "Sorry, I'm fine, don't worry," he assured them. He smiled and continued. "In case you're interested, Robin, they're holding an archery contest up by the castle. And the winner gets to see Maid Marian!" He walked over and took a sip of the soup, and coughed out a smoke ring from it.

"Maid Marian...!" Robin's eyes lit up.

Little John sighed. "Ohhh, no, Rob, don't even think about it!" he told him, sissoring his arms. "That's the stupidest way to get caught in the world."

Robin smiled mischeivously. "Who said I'm going as myself?" he asked. He winked. To Maru, he said, "You should try entering yourself, Maru. You're excellent at it, no doubt."

Maru shook his head. "What if I win and you still don't get to see Maid Marian?" he asked. "Besides, I need to keep an eye out for...well..." Robin nodded, he got it.

Little John looked at Robin still. "But Rob, what if it's a trap?" he asked.

Robin Hood laughed and shook his head. "I doubt it, if Maid Marian is there," he said, busy putting on a costune that would make him look like a stork. "And don't worry, if it is, I'll escape, don't you worry!"

Little John looked to Friar Tuck, then Maru for help. Both just shrugged. He gave up. "Alright, but I'll come too, just in case."

"Fair enough. Besides, this sounds like it'll be quite fun," Robin said, smiling as he tightened on his fake beak.

Friar Tuck smiled. "Oh, Robin, it's sure good to see you so happy!" he said, smiling broadly. "I don't think I've ever seen you in such a good mood!"

Robin just shrugged and got his bow. "I'm meeting the girl of my dreams for the first time in years! You'd be happy, too!" He tested out his aim with his longbow inside the suit, and found it was still pretty good. He took his bow and arrows with him and starting walking off, wearing stilts to add to the stork effect. "I'll be waiting there!" he said. "If anyone wants to come, then come on!"

Maru nodded and got up. Instinctivly, his companions got out of hiding and began following, too.

"Oh, for Pete's sake," complained Little John as Maru tried to revive the fainted friar. "First my best bud goes off all lovesick and stuff without caring if he gets caught, and then this," he motioned to Friar Tuck, and Maru gave a nervous grin and laugh, "and now nobody's gonna eat the food I just slaved over for nothing!" Everyone else who could couldn't help but laugh at that.

- - -

I spy...with my little eye...a plothole in the making...


	7. 07: Limit One Per Customer

After Friar Tuck was revived and was explained to about the dragons being good, Little John got into a suit to look like a rich dude. He also took a little dagger with him, just in case. He, sadly, had no costumes big enough to cover the fact that Elliot's a dragon. His spikes and wings would break through some of his clothes, as would his arms, and the spikes themselves would be suspicious, as no lizard around there had spikes. Figment was just as out of luck; he was too small! So, they had to stay in the woods and watch from a distance while Maru was able to be alone(Friar Tuck felt safe sticking around in the crowd, while Little John went around on his own).

Maru was a little relieved that he was finally on his own. Yet, at the same time, a little bit in him felt...lonely. 'Why?' he asked himself. 'I've been wanting to get away from them for forever...' But that just made it worse. He shook his head to clear it. 'As soon as I'm able to use telekinesis very well again, I shall have to say goodbye to my fr--teammates...'

He walked around until he found the stork. As he was about to approach, the contest began. He had to watch before he could do anything. All the time, he had a bad feeling about things. 'This IS a trap, isn't it?' he wondered, raising an eyebrow and looking around. There were an awful lot of guards around for a simple archery contest. (He also noticed no medics for if there are any stray arrows, but then, he remembered, this is in an old time period.)

It was Robin's turn, and he had to fire an arrow to hit a bullseye, just like the fat wolf Sheriff(whose name I sadly forget, if he had one), who had gotten that bullseye[ fun trivia Note that two common subjects for fatfurs, a wolf and a bear, are both represented as being very large in this movie. /fun trivia . (Sorry) Now, you can imagine Maru's worry when he fired an arrow that was originally broken in half and had to be bound together--a prop, undoubtedly. 'Where does he GET this stuff?!' Then, Maru noticed a dirty trick being played: Somebody was inside the target. He hadn't seen when the target had jumped to grab Sherrif's arrow. Now, the target moved back. To add further insult to injury, someone tapped one of Robin's stilt-legs, causing him to aim too high. He amazed onlookers, though, by quickly firing another arrow right at the end of it so that it spun out, then fell...right to the bullseye.

The Sheriff had one last trick, though. The third time Robin shot, the target sidestepped entirely! Maru couldn't take this, though. He, unbeknownst to anyone, grabbed the arrow midflight and then realized that it'd look a bit suspicious if it flew back on its own. 'Here's hopin'...' He then grabbed the leaves in nearby trees and a few banners, and shaked them so that it looked like the wind was blowing weird. He "blew" the arrow back, then right around and in the target. As the crowd cheered, he broke the holds and held his head instead, since it was now absolutely throbbing. Robin looked around a bit, then behind, and spotted Maru. Maru gave a thumbs-up and, really pushing himself at that point in his recovery, sent as strong as he could: ''One dirty trick deserves another to set things right sometimes.'' Then all went a bit blurry for Maru, and he couldn't really tell what was going on for a minute. He could barely stand up while his overstrain faded.

Robin was a bit surprised at the telepathy, but he gave the psychic a hard stare anyway. He couldn't keep it up, though, because the alligator announcer had grabbed his arm and declared him the victor. He was led up to an awards ceremony, where he was given the golden arrow. And a chance to meet Maid Marian. Maru was still dizzy, so he couldn't really notice how they paused.

He felt something spray on his cheek, and he felt completely healthy again. The headache, dizziness--all gone. He looked around and then in his collar. Navi, clever girl, had grabbed a Full Heal he'd grabbed a while back just in case. She could only get one spritz in since her strength was so small. "Thanks," he whispered, and she bobbed/nodded and then hid again. Maru turned back to the task at hand. He raced to the crowd now at the ceremonies.

Prince John was just now using a sword to dub the victor. "I now pronounce you..." he said, lowering the sword to the stork, whose head was bowed to recieve the honor. Then, he quickly shoved it under his collar and pulled up, causing the disguise to fall apart and reveal a very surprised fox on stilts. "...The LOSER!!" Prince John finished, an evil grin on his face.

Maru rolled his eyes. "Why am I not surprised?" he mumbled, then began to run forward, but the chaos began as soon as "SEIZE HIM!!" was roared. Guards charged in on Robin, and they blocked Maru from intervening. As much as he fought, Robin got caught.

Prince John smiled, twirling his whiskers around a claw. "Now, then," he started, but was grabbed from behind, Maru could see. After some yowls of pain, Prince John said, to everyone's surprise, "FREE ROBIN HOOD!!"

Robin was freed from his bindings, and Maid Marian raced over to him and hugged him. Of course, though, something happened behind the throne and Prince John was free, too. He spluttered, then pointed at Robin and cried, "SEIZE HIM! SEIZE HIM!!" again.

That's when it all went nuts.

While a massive mob-fight began, Maru's instincts caused every hair on the back of his neck stand on-end. He grimaced and looked around. "Heartless," he said in a low voice. But the chaos around him was too much. It looked like he needed help, so Maru raced to join Robin Hood, who had obtained a sword and was fighting hard with the guards. One had somehow snuck around, and he almost struck the hero down when, with a flash of light, Maru leapt in, summoning the Keyblade. The guard blinked in surprise at the appearence of the weapon, and the others paused a second to look behind Robin. Gritting his teeth, showing a zig-zag of pearly-whites, Maru said, "You leave this fox alone, and I DON'T hand you your tail on a platter." He pushed the guard off, feeling good that his physical strength was returning as well, and turned to help out Robin with the others.

Robin smiled, looking at him for a second before looking back at the guards. "You know, it WAS just a bonus shot," he told him without looking.

Maru fought off weapons as well. "I hate it when your victory is cheated from you, alright?" he defended. "I believe in fair fights...and yes, this is a fair fight," he added, pushing against the guards and letting them escape.

After some more craziness (including a train of blindly-running elephants and rhinoes crashed) and fighting off guards, Maru finally couldn't take the sensation anymore and stopped, looking around, aggrivated. "Where the heck and when are those things coming?!" he roared to nobody in particular(but the guards currently around him stopped, feeling accused; Maru shook his head at them and they continued fighting).

As if on cue, a wind began to blow, hard and cold on this warm summer day. (Navi popped out to say, "You just HAD to say something," to Maru.) Robin stopped a second, looking in the direction it came. "What's wrong?" Maid Marian asked him.

Robin looked a bit serious. "Marian, m'dear," he said, "stay close by my side. Things are about to get a lot more dangerous."

Before she could ask why, Heartless began to appear. "AAHHH!!" she cried, clutching onto her love for her life.

Robin snarled, ready for serious combat. "I won't let ANYONE take you away from me now that we're together again!" he vowed, and began fighting off Shadows as best he could with his borrowed sword.

As soon as Heartless began to appear, the two dragons nodded to each other and raced out of the woods to Maru's side. Of course, Elliot had on his armor again, and he was charging through anything to get to the Keyblader. Only later did he realize he had learned another skill.

Figment held onto him, since he ran slower comparitively when Elliot was charging away. "YEEE-HAAAW!!" he shouted, waving his hand in the air like a hat, then throwing it when a few Wyverns began to appear.

Maru looked up as the green living battering ram skidded to a halt by him. "Break time's over, unfortunately," he said, smashing a Soldier away.

"Well, I'd like it to begin again, frankly," Robin said, scampering over with Maid Marian, who was now pretty freaked out, what with two dragons now there. "Marian, don't worry, those two are my friends, they're here to help," he told her.

Marian sighed in relief. "Thank goodness!" she said. "I thought that things would have been bad enough, without a couple dragons trying to make me into last night's supper."

A large chicken, who was Marian's maid, and right now totally kicking ass, heard this and shouted, "HEY! I didn't TRY to burn it!"

Robin noticed Marian's maid was able to fend off Heartless without a weapon quite well, and so his gut told him to do this. He held Marian and looked her in the eye. "My dear Marian," he said, "it's about to get very dangerous now. Your maid there seems to be able to handle herself quite well, so I want you to be by her for the moment until things settle down."

Marian looked sad, but she nodded and kissed him on the cheek. "Don't leave me again, Robin Hood," she told him, and ran off to her maid.

Robin, still a little stupefied from being with his love, and therefore a bit struck by the kiss, stood there, but then got his senses and called back, "I won't, Maid Marian! I promise!"

Maru and company, currently fighting Heartless like they were going out of style, heard this. "Come on, Robin!" called Maru from atop a Fat Bandit. "We've got a hoard to fight!"

Robin nodded and, to his delight, grabbed his bow and arrows still on the ground from the dubbing before he continued. With sword and bow in paw, he became the first temporary partner Mewtwo gained in his travels across the worlds.

The battle was long, but fairly easy with four fighters. There weren't many fat Heartless, but there were a lot of the Heartless that Navi had classified as Beomen. Approxamitely 17 of those little buggers were defeated by Maru, who had used his "Nice shot!" attack to defeat them all in one blow. But then, things got a little interesting. All at once, for no apparantly good reason, a swarm of Rapid Thrusters appeared above the fighters' heads. Figment was out of magic to use his little swarm attack, and Elliot wasn't good against flying enemies(although he could use Ember, sorta, but that didn't help). Maru gaped at the amount of flying enemies. "There's no way!" he cried;

THERE WERE EIGHTY OF THE FUDDRUCKERS FLITTIN' ABOUT!!

"Maru!" He turned and looked at Robin Hood, who had his bow out. "You're a fantastic archer, trust me! There IS a way!" he said, smiling determinedly.

Maru tilted his head in puzzlement, then suddenly remembered something that Sora had used that involved his teammates. 'I'll have to swallow my pride...' He nodded. "Together?" he double-checked.

Robin smiled and nodded. "Are you ready?" he asked.

Maru squeezed the Keyblade, and it filled him with the magic within it. He nodded. "Let's go!"

"Keep your eyes on the prize," reminded Robin. The two went back to back.

A flash of light filled the fairgrounds coming from Maru's Keyblade. It affected both the fighters. As if by instinct, they knew what to do. Robin now had gained as many arrows as he needed. Maru's Keyblade had doubled itself, becoming double-edged, and a beam of light arced between the bits. He switched hands and, eyes glowing light blue light, began to target the enemies above him.

Robin, daringly, nocked three arrows at once in his bow and aimed above, then released with perfect aim at three Thrusters. Then Maru let fly one arrow of psychic energy, which hit one and burst into ten others like a firework. A few didn't hit anything, but a few did hit things. The two repeated this a number of times, then, when the Keyblade's power began to reach its limit, they went for one final attack.

They looked at each other, then at the enemies around. Anyone with high spiritual power could see the lock-on rectiles appearing around the enemies around them as the two pulled back with all their might, although no arrows were in their hands.

"Ready?" asked Maru, closing his eyes.

"Aim..." replied Robin, closing his.

Their eyes shot open simultaneously. ""FIRE!!"" Both of them released, and a beam of energy shot out and burst into hundreds of arrows of green and blue energy, from Robin and Mewtwo respectively. The arrows shot about and sank into their targets, the Rapid Thrusters and any Heartless still around. Each one of them had released exactly 60 arrows of energy, and there were less than 120 enemies around. Some recieved even more peircing punishment because of this. The two separated their back-to-back position and returned to their own devices. The light faded, the Keyblade's extra bottom half disappeared, and Maid Marian, who had watched the entire thing, applauded. Robin put his paw behind his head in the "thanks" gesture at this.

Maru looked at his Keyblade. "This thing just gets cooler and cooler every time I draw it," he muttered. He looked up again and saw a few more stragglers around.

After they had been eliminated, the feild was clear. Finally CLEAR. Everyone who had hidden waited for a few moments, then slowly creeped out into the open. (Prince John, the cowardly lion, was nowhere to be seen.) They looked around at the ruined fairgrounds, seeing nothing but wrecks from the chaotic scene before, then cheered in joy and went and crowded around Robin Hood, Maru, and even the dragons. The other three smiled and feilded thank-yous, but Maru remained unsmiling. He gazed in the direction that the wind still blew from. "The wind hasn't stopped blowing," he said softly. However, those who heard it stopped. And then the ones behind them stopped. And a chain reaction went through the crowd. Maru gazed up and twirled his Keyblade once around his hand. He narrowed his gaze. "One last foe is coming..." At this, everyone else just seemed to disappear, all except brave Maid Marian.

Robin held her gently. "Marian, my dear, it's almost over," he told her, "so please, just stay by your maid for a while more. We'll take care of this one last battle."

Maid Marian nodded and went off. "Good luck!" she bade as she ran off.

Robin smiled and waved. But then, the wind blew harder, and he had to turn to see. A Heartless was coming, and fast. He drew his bow, putting his sword in his belt. "I just might need it..." he mumbled as he aimed.

The Heartless came closer and closer, and soon, it was seen to be something that resembled a dragon of sorts. It was long-limbed and lanky, but had traditional big, powerful legs. It had feline-like feet, though, instead of large-clawed dragon feet. It was black for scales and somewhat lighter for the underside, which bore the emblem that Maru had noticed on a few Heartless. He noticed, though, its red border was also bordered by a white line. Long as its limbs were, it was by no means scrawny, and had an enormous, almost bigger than it should be, chest. 'It should have large chest muscles for its wings, but not THAT big!' Maru thought. The wings themselves were very basic wings, like a Salamence's wings. The head, on a surprisingly short neck for a dragon, had no horns, but had a dark blue mask like bat wings, sort of flying back a bit, and pointed eyes instead of round ones Heartless traditionally had. A red X was in between the eyes. It appeared, too, to have thin-spiked hair, radiating all the way down to the small of its back. Wicked, sharp-looking spikes covered its spine and down its tail, colored like steel. At the end of its tail was a large arrowhead with a hook from either flat side of it. It came closer and then landed, revealing itself to be actually very small, comparitively; it was actually only a bit taller than Maru, and he supposed it to be a little taller than his former true height. As Maru looked at it, he said, "Now THAT is a dragon to fear."

The beast, which had no mouth to speak of yet had two white fangs sticking out of what would be its mouth, made no sound, as usual for Heartless. Instead, standing on its hind legs, it began to charge Maru first. It was very slow. 'This might be easy,' Maru thought, and readied his strike.

Suddenly, the Heartless disappeared. As it did, an arrow shot through the space it had originally occupied, and Elliot had to duck to avoid an early demise. "Huh!?" Maru whipped his head around to a surprised Robin Hood, who now had a big beast bearing down on him. "ROBIN!!" He was too slow, and the Heartless launched a powerful kicking attack at him. It hit, and with a cry of pain, Robin was sent flying. He landed and rolled, but was able to stop himself and get up onto his feet again.

"ROBIN!!" Maid Marian cried, reaching to him, but smart enough to stay out of the fight.

Robin grimaced. "That wasn't very pleasant," he mumbled. He pulled his bow back again, wondering if it was a fluke.

The beast disappeared again, though, and this time, poor Figment got a horribly nasty uppercut that left a little scar in the ground from its force. He let out a terrible squeal of agony, flying off. Elliot caught him, though, and held him and looked him over to see if he was okay. Weakly, Figment pulled himself up and looked over Elliot's arm. He shook his fist at the Heartless. "YOU BIG MEANIE!!" he cried.

Maru growled. "Okay, it WON'T be easy," he grumbled, and charged to it. But before he could get a single hit in, it disappeared AGAIN! "What, can't we hit the damn thing?!" he roared, skidding and looking around. He cursed. "ROBIN!"

Robin yelped, then ducked a tail sweep, holding onto his hat. He looked up afterwards and then tried to avoid a smashing blow. He barely did, but he didn't expect the fist in the ground to then swing sideways around and hit him. He yelped in pain and tumbled aside. He got up slower this time. "This...doesn't look good..." He got up and wearilly picked up his bow again.

Maru suddenly had an idea, as the Heartless disappeared again and hooked Figment right out of Elliot's arms(to the green dragon's horror). It was further encouraged when Elliot, now pretty unhappy, just went right out and punched the thing right back. AND HE HIT!! The big galoot reeled back as Elliot slammed another punch, then his full front, and finally his own tail right into it. It fell, but rolled and leaped up again before any cheap shots could be gotten in. 'That's it!!' Maru looked to either side, to the two ranged fighters. "CEASE FIRE!!" he cried.

Robin yelped and had to swing his bow to a side to avoid firing at the dragon. Figment, who had gotten up, was too late, and he'd cast a Thunder. He just held the card up and cast the spell, however, and it hit the beast. He then widened his eyes and smacked his forehead. "D'oh! That was the last of my magic! Now I can't heal us!" he complained.

Maru grimaced. "That's alright," he called. To both of them, he said, "You have to resort to melee attacks! It responds immediately to ranged attacks!" 'Which makes Robin's new...what was it? Limit attack, I think...it makes it useless, now. Damn! That could've helped so much with focusing so much damage on one target!!' He readied his Keyblade. "Don't use your arrows or throw your cards!"

Robin nodded and drew his sword, putting his bow on his back with his quiver. But Figment fumed and shouted, quite angry from being treated like a punching bag, "I DON'T KNOW ANY MELEE ATTACKS!!"

"IMPROVISE!!" Maru shouted back, then added, "Think of it like combining Jazz music and fighting!" He thought that the reference to a creative thing might help.

It worked, and Figment brightened a bit. He looked at his hand and thought wildly. He got an idea and nodded. "I'll just use my hand like a fan," he said, "and slice that big bully!" He scampered over and leaped, slashing with his hand at a leg. The hand disappeared, but it worked.

Maru and company had to fight their guts out for this, because two ranged fighters had to become close-quarters combatants, and at low health, too. Maru and Elliot were doing fine, since Maru was by nature well-balanced at both types of combat and Elliot was good at close combat. However, they couldn't avoid every attack.

Figment got hit again, and was sent flying one last time. Elliot yelped and dived to catch him, succeeding. As he looked at his little friend, his jaw trembled.

Figment swayed a littled as he tried standing. "I...think I'll just...take a break..." he murmured, then fell over into Elliot's arms. Still.

Elliot just gaped, but Maru, who was blown back and had skidded near to them, looked over his shoulder and said, "Don't worry, he's just fainted. He'll be up again soon." He then continued on.

Then Robin failed to dodge an attack, and was sent flying again. Marian cried out as he tumbled back. She crouched and caught him in her arms. "Robin? Robin!!" she cried, shaking him. "Please, are you alright? Please be okay!"

Robin gave one weak smile and said, "I'll be...fine..." before everything went black for him.

Marian whimpered and cried, hugging him to her. "Don't go..."

Maru and Elliot were alone, and Maru knew his foe had a lot of HP left. Why? Because he'd regained his useful ability to, with no effort at all, anylize the enemy's current fighting health, something he called Psy-Scan. He could tell that this thing had a lot of fight left, and he knew he and his teammate weren't doing that well, either. They'd used up their Potions, and so Maru, feeling the rush of a close fight, was wishing desperately for Recover to return.

The dragon Heartless carged and attacked, the two fighting their best to survive. Maru tried to get on top and use Slashfest, but he failed each time. He'd already assumed the head to be the weak point, but he couldn't get there, since the thing was too active and moved about a lot. He got hit off every time he tried, and finally, he was in the red. (No annoying ambulence siren, though, thankfully.) He scowled. "Put in the danger zone again?! How weak can I get!?!"

"MARU!" Navi squeaked.

Maru glared. "NOT NOW, NAVI!!" he shouted, leaping back from an attack.

Navi, used to this, continued. "Just because you changed forms doesn't mean you changed clothes!" she reminded him.

Maru stopped a second. "You're right!" he whispered, then looked at Elliot, who was currently grappling with the beast. "Now is as good as any time..." He shouted, "ELLIOT!!"

Elliot turned to him, "Hm?"

Maru stood in a determined pose, smirking, with his arms spread out. "Lend me your strength!!" he commanded.

Elliot was puzzled at first, but then he gasped, smiling, and nodded, eyes narrowed and smile on his face.

Maru summoned the power of the clothes he wore. "DRIVE!!" he screamed, and a bright flash of light filled the arena. A globe of light, like a shattered ball of glass, surrounded Maru, and time slowed for a second. Elliot disappeared, and Maru felt his body change, flashing like a very fast Transform. He had been floating in the air a little from the power, but he landed now.

At this point, Robin shook his head and opened his eyes blearilly. His strength had returned a little, but not enough to get fighting again just yet. He gasped as he watched Maru change. "What the blazes...?!"

Mewtwo landed, and Kingdom Key appeared in his left paw. He looked up at the dragon Heartless, grinning wickedly. The Drive form had restored his health, but he couldn't really use any special non-physical attacks. "Suffer," he whispered malevolently, and dashed forward to the dragon. The Heartless sweatdropped and tried to block the rapid-fast assult of Keyblade slashes. But its guard failed as Mewtwo struck under its arms, to its gut, and this caused it to drop its guard.

Mewtwo grinned wildly and attacked with every fiber of his being, exuberent from the massive strength he felt from Elliot assisting with his essense. He attacked with a long, powerful combo, and ended it with three double-blade attacks. First, he did parallel down-strikes, then he sisscored his arms horizontally and sent Kingdom Key striking up going right, and New Home (one he'd been using) on the bottom and going right, and finally a wicked cross slash. (X-Sicssor?) The dragon Heartless went soaring away, then decided to actually soar. It tried flying around, but Mewtwo just leaped up and began an aerial assult. He finished with a spinning double-slash, first one, then the other Keyblade smashing it down to the ground. And that's not all. Mewtwo landed on the things shoulders, since the shock of the landing, although it got up, dazed the feirce beast. Locking on, Mewtwo attacked viciously, with a wild grin on his face at the joy he was feeling being in his old body and having superior strength once again! With twice the speed of slashes with twice the weapons, he knocked the beast's health down like ice melting in a red-hot pan. The beast got back, though, so he leapt off.

He could feel the power inside him drain faster each time he hit, which meant he was down in the "0" guage, so to speak. For one last hurrah, he charged, yelling. The beast tried to guard again, but Mewtwo broke through: He slammed first his tail("BRICK--"), then both his Keyblades("--BREAK--"), and finally turned and did a powerful mule kick with both powerful legs("--BLAST!!"). And he did just that, blasted the beast back all the way into the throne on which Prince John had sat some minutes ago. Mewtwo, as he put his feet under him again and turned to face the beast, suddenly cried, "NO!" as his body flashed again. Elliot reappeared in a flash of light beside him, and Mewtwo reverted back to Maru. Maru looked at his body, then let out a sigh, which became a small smile. "At least I got to be me again," he whispered. At the right time, too, since there was still a crashing sound coming from the beast as it totally destroied the podium the throne was on.

Maru looked up and saw that it was totally dazed. And then he felt something in the Keyblade. "A chance?" he asked, looking at it. "What can I--"

The Keyblade suddenly turned into a ball being clutched in his paw.

Maru froze. 'No...no way...'

"...This is one of my Monster Balls!!" he exclaimed, holding the eye-buttoned ball up to him. He blinked and looked from it to the Heartless. "Does this mean I...should I..." He shut his mouth and lowered his eyebrows. He looked at the beast. He then raised the ball high, then tossed it up and spun around left. He used telekinesis to grab the ball and spin it around him in the opposite direction. "Monster Ball..." He grabbed the ball with his paw, stopped the telekinesis, and, with one last spin, finally threw it. "...GO!!"

The Monster Ball screamed through the air, spinning and radiating a strange, black energy Mewtwo didn't remember ever coming from them when they flew out to capture the trainers' pokémon so long ago. The ball struck the Heartless and stopped in midair, turning and opening up, like any normal pokéball. However, instead of red or blue energy capturing the Heartless, it was violet energy laced with light and darkness swirling about the beam. It slowly went inside the ball, and finally got all the way in, the ball snapping shut with a subtle small burst of black and white sparkles. It fell down and began to wiggle around. Maru held his breath, watching avidly as the red light pulsed and the ball moved back and forth. (And he didn't have any controller with him to try one of many rumored tricks for capturing easier.)

It felt like forever, but it was only a few seconds. Finally, the well-known soft "Puuun" emitted from the ball as the light faded and the ball was still. Maru blinked, then smiled. He held up a fist. "Gotcha," he said softly, and then pointed his fist at the ball. "I caught...a Heartless."

Suddenly, the ball glowed bright, entirely whiting over, and a huge heart burst out from it, floating up to the sky and away. The ball remained, though, and Maru walked over and picked it up. He felt darkness within...but tamed darkness. As if he'd just caught an enormously evil pokémon, but it had somewhat given up as soon as it realized it was captured. Thoughtfully, Maru held the ball out. "Come out," he commanded in a curious tone. The ball opened up and, in the traditional red flash of light, the Heartless reappeared. Those around who had been sure it was over suddenly gasped and yelled as it reappeared.

But it was still. It didn't move. Well, until it looked around, then around and a little down at Maru. It looked expectant.

Maru smirked. "I see you are mine, now," he said. He chuckled. "Don't worry..."

He looked into the vibrant, glowing green, snakelike eyes. He also noticed the Heartless emblem was replaced by a new design on its stomach. "...You won't do any evil anymore."

The Heartless bowed its head, then whipped its head up and let out a roar. It was proud, free, deep, and feirce. Maru smiled and held the ball up. "We'll fight sometime, don't worry," he assured him(as he decided from the pitch of its voice). "For now, though, return." The red beam shot out and took him, and then the changed Heartless went back into his ball. Maru smiled, then shrank the ball and put it in his pocket. 'I can't believe it...these things can capture Heartless just like pokémon! Or at least, mine can...' He wondered something, then called the Keyblade. It came, and he checked his pocket. Yep, still there. He gave a thoughtful smirk as he dismissed his weapon.

Everyone came over to him, now awake again and happy. The wind had stopped blowing. Robin Hood laughed and slapped his shoulder. "Good show, there, Maru!" he complimented, laughing and shaking his head. "You are a strange one, aren't you?" He looked at him with a raised eyebrow.

Maru chuckled. "You have NO idea," he replied, smirking back.

Little John laughed. "Yeah, I'll say!!" He patted Maru on the back. "Good job, kid."

Maid Marian smiled and took Maru's paw. Politely, she raised it to her face, and Maru knew what was coming. "I am in your debt, Sir Maru," she said, and gave the back of his paw a light smooch.

Maru froze at this, face burning red. "Er...N...No problem..." he replied, a little flabbergasted at the kiss. He knew it was customary for things like this, but he still was a little shaken. 'But in a good way or a bad way?'

Figment sniggered. "OooooooOOOOH!!" he went, like a little school boy. He flew up to land on Elliot's shoulder. "Lookit, he's blushin'!! He's blushin'!!" he pointed, grinning.

Maru anger-veiened and snapped at the outstretched finger, getting air, of course.

Elliot chuckled. "That was really a good job we did, wasn't it?" he asked, smiling pleasedly.

Maru looked at him and smiled, nodding. "Yes. Thank you, Elliot," he said slowly. 'If it wasn't for him and the clothes allowing me to transform, I'd have failed.'

"That was great!"

"Thank you so much!"

"Great work!"

The crowd cheered and thanked them for saving them. Friar Tuck, who was still there, amazingly, shouted as loud as his froggy throat could allow, "LET'S GIVE THREE CHEERS FOR ROBIN HOOD, MARU, FIGMENT, AND ELLIOT!! HIP-HIP..."

Everyone punched the air. "HOORAY!!"

This repeated, and Robin, Maru, and the dragons blushed a little, smiling a little embarassedly, and they said it was nothing to everyone.

Off hiding behind some rubble from a broken tower, Prince John looked on and seethed. "That Robin Hood..." He watched as Robin and Maid Marian ran off, and many of the crowd followed suit, including the Keyblade crew(who was really being pushed along a bit from the crowd). John banged his fist on the rock. "Curse you!!"

Hiss (the snake) slithered over, but was cautious and kept his distance. "Now, sire," he admonished, "watch your temper..."

"TEMPER?!"

Sounds of distright (?) could be heard coming from the ruins of the tower.

Back at the camp, everyone celebrated, and sang and made fun of Prince John, since he'd tried to capture Robin Hood, but they'd escaped. To Maru's releif, not a line was made about his group's helping out against the Heartless. At some point, Robin Hood and Maid Marian went off into the night forest on their own. Maru and his teammates didn't follow, for respect. But it looked like everything might be alright now, at least for a little while. There weren't that many Heartless, and the amount that was there was enough that Robin Hood could probably handle it alone. So, after talking it over with his teammates, Maru decided to leave this world alone for a little while. "I think that Merlin said something about the worlds being a fair bit more resistant in terms of Heartless trying to get its heart," he said. "There might be other worlds in need of our help."

Figment and Elliot nodded. "You're right, we should get goin' so that we can see other worlds!" Figment agreed.

Little John came over. "Hey, you guys bailin' the party?" he asked, a little disappointed.

Maru nodded. "Yes, we are, but no worries, we'll be back soon to check up on you," he assured him, smiling and holding his paw up.

Little John chuckled. "Well, before ya go," he said, rummaging in his shirt for something, "I think you should take this thingamajig that I found in my hiding spot." He wiped whatever it was off on his shirt, then handed it to Maru. Maru took it; it was a keychain of a miniature arrow, point down. Maru smiled and put it away in a pocket. Little John smiled. "It looked like that thingy that hangs off of your sword, so I thought it might help it look a little fresh. Sorry, but it looks kinda borin', if ya ask me," he stated, crossing his arms. But he smiled and then waved. "Y'all take care, now, y'hear?"

Maru nodded and waved, turning to walk away. "We will, worry not," he assured, and everyone said their goodbyes. They walked off and went to the green disk, disappearing in a flash of light.

*****OBTAINED "Sharpshot"*****

- - -

"Uuhhhhnnnn..."

A gloved hand reached up to hold a black and red head.

"Where...am I...?"

Red eyes open and look around. A ruined castle met them. Apparantly, they were on an old, cracked courtyard, with a ruined tiling of a sun on it. Some bits of the pattern were missing, and many bricks were upturned. The eyes looked behind, and a massive, decrepid castle stood, grey and broken in places, holes showing the insides. Windows were broken, spires were snapped in two, and yet one central part remained completely intact. It was pure white, and a single banner bearing the Roman numerals for 13 flew over it.

Two shoes got under the small but immensely strong body.

Standing up to his full height, Shadow the Hedgehog looked on at the castle. "NOW what?" he asked nobody aggrivatedly.

When he wanted nobody to hear, he didn't expect one to...

- - -

Oooh, Shaddie!! Oh, God, I'm having too much fun!! I hope people be liking this!! n-n;;


	8. 08: WARNING: Politically Incorrect Scene

**Bit 8: (interlude)**

Once on the ship, Maru had put the new keychain onto the Keyblade, which made him laugh a little at the shape of one of Robin's arrows he'd used in the contest: It looked like an arrow, but it was a really shoddy one, because the stick it was made of still had little stumps and twigs with leaves on it, the longer twigs on the reverse edge. A long twig bowed down a little at the top, leaves sprouting out of it. The hilt was made of two tiny simple bows together, the grip being where you gripped them, and the knuckleguards were nothing but mere bowstrings. Maru chuckled at it, and swung it a few times. It was slightly longer than the last form, New Home, and, what with it being an arrow, Maru assumed that its stabs were more powerful than its swings. He dismissed it and got to his seat.

"We're coming back, right?" asked Figment, smiling hopefully.

Maru nodded. "Yes, once we're able to find Keyholes easier," he answered. "That means that I have to gain more levels until my psychic powers are strong enough to sense them." He gripped the wheel and looked at the screen. "Next stop..." He touched the third world, and his eyebrows raised in surprise. "'Paris, France'?? That's the name of that world??" He sounded a little annoyed. He looked at it a bit. "Then we must be going to another old-era time, since the infamous Eiffel Tower is not present, as far as I can see," he mumbled.

Elliot sat down and crossed his arms, sighing. "Not another place that screams and runs when they see me..." he moaned, shaking his head.

Maru sighed. "Sorry, but I'm afraid so," he broke the news to the big guy. "You will just have to cope for a little bit longer. Let's just hope that there aren't any more people like Friar Tuck where we're going, because he was doing the whole Exorcist act and everything." Friar Tuck, who had been brought up to believe that dragons are creatures from the devil, did, indeed, have a very hard time accepting the fact that Figment and especially Elliot weren't evil. He brought out a cross, splashed some holy water he had on him, and said prayers over and over until Maru grabbed him, held him still, and asked, "If they were evil, they would have burned down this forest by now, now, wouldn't they?" That worked, thankfully. Maru didn't have a lot of fun, though, and neither did his teammates. He had to resist slapping the guy, because that would NOT be good on his permanent record.

Maru set the course and started up the main thrusters. "Here we go," he mumbled. 'I'm almost forgetting about all my powers being stolen. I wonder why...' He drove the ship a ways, then entered the route leading to the world, starting on his Heartless-blasting fun. 'Maybe...Maybe...I'm actually having...fun? Feeling a little rewarded that I'm earning my power instead of already having it from the start?' he pondered. He shook his head. 'No, it's not fun, not fun at all. I miss flying. I miss lifting things. I miss telepathy. I miss blowing things up with a mere thought. I miss all of it. And I want it BACK.' He sneered at the enemy ships, then heard everyone let out a little "MEEP!" as a ship flew past, grazing their vessel(and causing Dale to roar, "HEY! WATCH THE PAINT JOB!!" while shaking his tiny fist). "Hit and run, I see!" he shouted, blasting the culprit to bits.

Again, the party entered the world in an alleyway. The psychic-type looked around. "Yep, another medival world," he confirmed, and the two dragons groaned. He chuckled and then walked to the exit of the alleyway, looking around. It appeared to be a huge square, and some people roamed about, talking excitedly(in English, Maru was relieved and confused to find). Banners flew around, a few people were setting up tents, and some garrishly-dressed people were over in one area, practicing their performances. "It appears a festival is being set up," he said over his shoulder.

Figment's and Elliot's faces brightened--then fell, remembering that they'll cause too much of a ruckus. "Oh, well," Figment sighed, flopping his arms down.

Elliot hung his head for a moment, then slowly looked up. "What are we going to do?" he asked disappointedly. "We can't be seen..."

Maru shook his head. "You'll have to wait here," he said, "until Heartless appear. That way, if anyone sees you guys fighting them off, they might think you're good. I might see if I can get you, though," he finished. He looked back. "I'll nose around to see if anyone is in any cos--" But he stopped dead, jaw open. "So THAT'S where we are," he whispered, a smile spreading across his face.

Right in front of him was the beautiful cathedral, Notre Dame.

**Bit 8: Paris, France**

Maru left the dragons, saying he'll see if there are any dragon-costumed performers that would allow the two to blend in, but really, he wanted to investigate the beautiful church first. He'd always wanted to go inside there, since he found cathedrals to be beautiful works of art. As he wandered the square, he heard some people talking, so the curious Mew within him caused him to stop and ask a few times.

"Pardon me for my rudeness, but what are you two talking about?" he asked as politely as he could to two women who had been happilly gabbing.

They giggled. "Why, about the festival," replied one, "of course. Everybody's talking about it!"

The other grinned from ear to ear. "Oh, I can't wait to see all those silly performers!" she said.

The first looked Maru up and down, surpressing a laugh. "Are you in the parade?" she asked.

Maru shook his head. "No, I'm just a tourist," he replied. "Thank you for your time." He walked off, and the two women gabbed again. 'So there IS a festival about to begin...if I had time, I'd like to watch. But I'm not really here to sightsee, now, am I?' Then he felt a little guilty; he was about to do just that. 'Erm...Just a quick look,' he lied to himself, entering the cathedral with reverence.

From above, high over the streets below, a stooped-over figure watched the purple head go inside.

[[WARNING!! WARNING!! "POLITICALLY INCORRECT" SCENE AHEAD!! Faint of heart, skip ahead to the part that says it's over and ignore my disclaimer: I AM NOT TRYING TO PREACH MY RELIGION, BUT AM MERELY TAKING ADVANTAGE OF THE SCENE TO MAKE THE STORY MORE INTERESTING(and Lord, I appologize for that). Everyone else who has a mind to keep their mouth shut if they are against my religion, read on.]]

Within the cathedral it was noticibly cooler. It appeared as if there was no service going at the moment, so Maru just quietly entered the chapel and kneeled respectfully at an altar. (Yes, Mewtwo is Christian, or at least he believes in God; 4Kids just dubbed the comment he made about him being made by God or not out of the first movie, the bastards...) He decided to whisper a quick prayer while he was there: "Lord, give me strength for my quest at hand, and let me eradicate the Heartless from this world and the next, and the next. Let me regain my strength and find my friends, and let them be alive when I find them." He paused, about to finish, when he just started up again. "Lord, will I ever see them again? Will...Will they forgive me? Do YOU forgive me for failing them? Please, Lord, I beg for forgiveness of my failure. I only wish I knew how to handle the Keyblade at least half as deftly as I can now...And why me, God? Why should I have the Keyblade? I still have not fully repented for my misdeed...Again, sorry for that, I was...foolish. Thank you for granting me wisdom these past years, and for...well...I don't know...Should I be thankful for you at least giving me a heart, if you did not create me? What if I'm meant to fight for my purpose? Fighting needs no heart to be maximized; the Shadow pokémon incedent in the Orre region support that. But why, then, do I have a heart? Is my purpose something more? Yes. It is. I know it to be. But...WHAT, God?? I beg of you...tell me my purpose!" Opening his closed eyes and lifting his bowed head, Maru gazed upwards, almost half-expectantly.

Nothing but the incense still in the air from the last service.

Maru bowed his head and shut his eyes again. "How silly of me," he continued, "to think that you would answer straight away." Another pause. "Lord...why, though? What is it about me that lets me hold the Keyblade?" he asked. "If what Merlin says is true, I am either a good soul or a bad one...Am I evil? Should I be? Or am I good? I hope the latter...It has to be, though. I would have felt guilty if I had not managed to seal Mach Paradise...and I feel nervous leaving Robin's world alone like that. But...how many worlds must I seal before I am done? Will I meet my friends again before I am done? And how should I restore my world? Where do I find its heart? CAN I even find it?" He was squeezing his hands together tighter, the knuckles turning white. "What will I do once I'm alone? Will I be able to fly in the Gummi Ship without Figment and Elliot? ...Should I...? ...I know...it is wrong to do that to them...but it would be for their own safety. They might get hurt from me. From the enemies I would face. Their hearts are strong, as are their wills, but...they can't battle as well as I can. And that reminds me, what am I to do with this Heartless I captured? Am I to battle with it? Shall I take it back to my homeworld? What should I do? And why does it exist still? A heart came from it like any other defeated Heartless; how come it's still here? Does it now have its own heart? And why does it radiate darkness still, if it does? Was I supposed to capture it...? Did I...Did I make the right choice?" He didn't notice his voice rising at the last few words.

"If you believe it to be in your heart, then it is."

Maru must have jumped 30 feet into the air. He spun around and saw a kind-faced preist walking in. He breathed a sigh of relief. "You startled me, Father," he said, putting a hand on his thumping chest.

The preist raised his eyebrows. "Oops! I'm so sorry," he appologized, "I didn't mean it, honest! Please, it was rude to intrude...continue with your prayers." He smiled and bowed to the alter, then left.

Maru nodded and, after a moment, turned back and finished up. "Lord, you have laid out for me a puzzle to solve. This puzzle that will, when peiced together, tell me what my purpose is in this world...as in, the grand world...everything. Am I to fight for entertainment and competition? Or am I to live as a normal pokémon? Or is THIS my destiny, a Keyblader? Whatever it is, this puzzle you have set out for me, you have scattered the peices to the far corners of the multiverse...but I shall find them. And I swear to thee, Lord God, that I shall solve this puzzle of truth that you have given to me. And I will never give up on it, never. This I swear. Hear my prayers, Lord...Amen."

[[END OF THE MEWTWO-PRAYING-TO-CHRISTIAN-GOD SCENE. Any babies who couldn't handle a little work of fiction that is not intended to preach Christianity may now resume reading. But please, grow a pair of whatever you're supposed to have, will you? Everyone else who is non-Christian but read it anyway, thank you. Follow your heart and continue doing whatever. That and reading my fanfic :3]]

Unclasping his hands, Maru finally stood and gave one last look at the altar. The serious image of Jesus Christ on the cross was prominent over the empty altar, cleared for the next service. It gave the Christian pokémon hope. 'Thank you for watching over us all.' Maru gave one last bow and turned to exit. [[PSYCH!! XP XD]]

"Shouldn't you be outside getting ready for that ridiculous performance?"

Maru stumbled back a step when he came face-to-face with a thin, black-robed man with a hooked nose and weird mushroom-like hat. He wasn't robed the way Maru was used to by now in terms of black-covered people, and he looked like a native of the world. 'And I'm getting a bad vibe from him, too...' "I'm not a performer," Maru told him, glaring. "And it is very impolite to do that to people; sneak up and insinuate something in their face."

The man scowled and tilted his head. "What have I insinuated?" he asked.

Maru sneered. "That I'm some weirdo that belongs in a circus," he had spat out before he could catch his temper. He really wasn't very happy.

At this, the black-robed man raised a nostril in disgust, but he regained composure and gave a calm, yet menacing, smile to Maru. Oh, did I mention he's taller than him? "Now, then, why would I say that?" he asked in as innocent a voice. 'It was glaring right on the tip of your mind--even my faint powers could hear it, that's why,' Maru wanted to say. "I leave judgements inside the courtroom and certainly outside the church."

Maru resisted rolling his eyes. 'Yeah, and a Magikarp can kick my ass...' He sighed and shook his head. "May I leave anyway? I'm supposed to be looking for something to help a friend," he said, standing straighter. 'Don't overdo it, he might be more proud than you...'

The man, however, stepped aside. "Then off with you," he said, doing the "after you" gesture. "And I'll ignore the fact you were loitering in the church when there is no service."

Maru gritted his teeth and clutched the fabric of his cloak. 'Cool it, COOL IT,' the sensible part of him said, but it was a little Budew (really short) against the enormous (15') Dialga. Thankfully, the Budew used Earthquake and aggrivated the poor trainer using Dialga as it went down in one hit, so Maru was able to, with a bit of a Mewtwo glare back(which seemed to fail to work), walk out the doors before he lashed out and punched a wall. He left the tiniest of cracks in the weathered stone. 'At least my strength is returning...'

He noticed a few people were dressed a little oddly, even for the performers and time of the age. He heard something and saw a man dressed up like a jester putting on a puppet show for some children. Another one, with a goat, was dancing, rattling a tamborine and spinning a little, silk scarf flowing in the wind. Maru found her a little mesmerizing. She had long black hair and green eyes that he could feel were full of trouble. 'But these people...If I didn't know any better, I'd say they were gypsies.'

Some people made a commotion down the road, and Maru jogged to investigate. 'Speaking of...' It wasn't from the alleyway where the two dragons still awaited news or Heartless, so he sighed in relief. 'Leaving them soon or not, I don't want them to get hurt partly from my stupidity...er, occasional unwise desicions,' he corrected himself. There appeared to be a group of knights on horseback riding in.

"Our soldiers, back from the war effort!" cried someone, pointing at them. A crowd gathered at a sidewalk and cheered.

The man on the front horse looked somewhat serious. He looked over to the crowds, but must not have been interested. Then he saw the gypsy girl and widened his eyes.

The gypsy looked alluring at him.

Maru suddenly felt something coming from them. 'Eh? This is...new...' It was faint, but he felt SOMEthing...he didn't know what, though. He shook his head and went around to gather information for his comrades. Once, there was some trouble with the dancer, but that main knight saw to it and helped her, then went into the cathedral. Maru decided not to intrude on either.

Maru gathered some information. It appears that--what luck!!--two people who were to go around in goofy-looking dragon suits were both sick, and couldn't come. They also had the costumes needed. "Is that so?" Maru asked, eyebrows raising. "I have a couple friends who have very believeible costumes who love to fool around, and the costumes are just like you described: One small, one large, and both ridiculous." He hoped it would be enough.

The fool gasped, then glared. "You'd better not be joking around," he said seriously. "Those two guys were going to make quite a show! During the parade, for example, one of them would act like he's in distress, with a fool in a knight's outfit would act all scary, and then a woman would act like she was rescuing the dragon!" He laughed. "It would be so topsy-turvey!"

Maru cocked his head. "'Topsy-turvey?'" he repeated.

The fool looked at him like he was some weirdo. "Yeah, it's the Festival of Fools today," he said. "January 6th!"

Maru cocked his head back like he was remembering. "Ohh, I remember; the last day of Christmas," he recalled. 'Odd; it doesn't FEEL too cold...' He shrugged and nodded. "Worry not, I assure you, they know how to act silly. And their suits may just be even better than the ones you were going to have in the parade," he added, smirking. 'O-kay, maybe I should watch it,' he thought, seeing the nonplussed look on the brightly-colored man. He smiled and said he'd be back in a second, then turned and jogged off to the alleyway.

Figment, who was looking at the festivities about to begin with a yearning look, noticed Maru returning. He stamped his foot and planted his fists onto his hips, tapping said foot. "Well, it's about time!!" he scolded the Keyblader. "What took so long?" he asked.

Maru sighed and made a very breif appologetic bow. "I appologize, Figment and Elliot, for taking so long, but I had a time find a suitible way to include you two into the general public," he explained. "It appears that two performers dressed as a short and tall duo of dragons are sick and in possession of their costumes, and they are requested to do a good performance. Erm...how well are you two at performing?" he checked, suddenly realizing that if the two couldn't perform, they wouldn't possibly be able to walk around normally until Heartless came.

Figment grinned and did a quick handstand, but Elliot gulped and looked nervous. "Uh...You mean like cartwheels and stuff?" he asked. Maru shrugged, and Elliot motioned to his girth. "I'm not really built for that kind of thing. You two may, but not me," he told them, looking worried.

Maru sighed and nodded. "I thought as much," he mumbled, then said louder, "Well, I suspect you can get away with just doing some minor silliness, making faces and the like. How are you on that?" he inquiered, and was relieved to see the goofy dragon make an equally goofy face. "That's great! You both will have to do some minor acting, and I take it you're fine at that...?" Maru raised a questioning eyebrow and smiled relievedly at the double nods. "Good. Now, let's see if we can get away with this...Cross your claws."

They did so, and, after Maru double-checked to look both ways for a clear coast, slowly followed him out into the plaza. The festivities were due to begin in at most an hour, but at least a few minutes, perhaps 15: Banners were in full flight above the plaza, stretching from the top of the cathedral to another building below. Tents were now set up all over, and a wooden stage was getting a circular device placed upon it. Maru got an uneasy vibe from it. As well as structures appearing at top speed, people both entertainer and audience were grouping into crowds or running about, getting ready. To the trio's relief, nobody took a second glance at the dragons. 'They look foolish enough to fit in!! Thank God!!'

The jester who Maru had spoken to was still standing there, arms crossed, and worried. Then he saw Maru and the two dragons, and his jaw dropped. Still open, though, it slowly turned into a wide smile. "Absolutely wonderful!!" he said, clasping his hands together and stepping over to Maru as they arrived. "They'll do absolutely PERFECTLY!! That is, though, if I were more foolish than I am and judged books on covers..." He looked critical as he put a hand on his chin. "Will you two be able to do the performance?" he asked.

Elliot just looked unsure, saying nothing(deciding to be a mime of sorts), but Figment, confident, nodded, grinning.

The fool raised an eyebrow. "Well, we'll just see about that," he mumbled, then clapped twice as he began moving backwards to the tent he was at. "Alright, you two, let's see if you can follow the act. If you can do it, we won't have to improvise so much," he called to them, beckoning them.

Figment and Elliot looked up and down respectively at Maru, looking a little unsure. "Go on, if he ends up being untrustworthy, you can take him," he whispered to them, making shooing motions. "Don't worry."

They nodded and went to follow the jester.

Maru took a deep breath and sighed, putting his arms behind his head as he walked off, beginning to wander about. "Well, nothing left to do except wait and see what happens," he said to nobody in particular.

"Or get a headstart on finding the Keyhole," Navi muttered from his collar, still hiding herself.

Maru nodded. "I suspect Notre Dame has it, since it's almost like the heart of the city. But let's hold off until there's nobody inside to ask us what we're doing if we go inside looking for the Keyhole," he muttered back.

Navi nodded to herself and continued to look around as Maru explored the area.

- - -

[NOTICE: I haven't seen this movie in an age. I'm sorry if something's wrong about the following scenes apart from anything obviously changed for the KH style. It'd be appreciated if you could inform me of errors that should definitely be corrected. Thank you!]

"Phoebus," said the judge without turning, out on a hallway looking out, disgusted, at the festivities about to begin below.

The blond-haired knight, still in his armor, stepped to him. "Yes, Judge Frollo?" he asked.

Frollo steepled his fingers as he glared down to the festival. "You know that they're here," he said cryptically.

Phoebus raised an eyebrow. "...Who's here?" he asked puzzledly.

Frollo scowled down. "Gypsies, that's who," he answered. "And they're here to spread their unholiness around during the Festival of Fools again. Their wrong ways are infecting the people here, I know it. This is a problem, do you not agree?" he drolled, turning slowly around to look at the fighter.

Phoebus, smart lad, nodded. "Y-Yes, I agree, sir," he replied.

Frollo nodded and looked down, eyeing a few ants on the ledge. "And how do you take care of a problem in the war effort?" he inquired.

Phoebus thought a second. "By taking them head-on," he replied. "With spirit and strategy."

Frollo nodded, a faint smile--somewhat unsettling--appearing on his visage. "Yes. We have been able to deal with our gypsie problem head-on, taking care of them one...by...one," he said, taking his fingers and squashing three ants, one at a time, and twisted his thumb on the third. Then he turned and grasped a square of the stone ledge. "But they keep coming back, since they have a nest of sorts somewhere in the city where there are always more," he continued, lifting the stone and revealing a mass of ants in a nest. "And the best way to deal with them would be to go to the source of the problem, and--" Here, he violently slammed the top side of the stone down on top the nest of ants, causing Phoebus to flinch slightly. He twisted it about to make sure they were good and gone, grinning a little as he did. "--take them all at once," he finished. He turned to Phoebus, leaving the stone incongruently sticking up, the tapered lip slanting up instead of down. His expression returned to normal, droll and softly intimidating and steepling his fingers again. "This is where you and your men come in," he said.

Phoebus tilted his head, interestedly. "You wish for us to locate and capture their...base, so to speak?" he guessed.

Frollo nodded. "Clever one. Yes, that is exactly it," he said, walking off. "I have my faith in you, Phoebus, to bring this city justice."

Phoebus stood at attention. "I will do my best, Judge Frollo," he assured him as the black-robed figure disappered into the cathedral. When he was gone, the knight frowned, unsure about the reasons behind Frollo's orders.

- - -

The festival began. The parade started going down the street, passing by the huge crowds. Maru was in them, out front to keep sight of his teammates. There were performers doing all sorts of odd things: dogs walking humans, people walking on their hands, people dressed like the figures on playing cards and flipping to their tops(bottoms?), revealing another head above, and dancers of all sorts.

"Maru! Look up!" hissed Navi, and Maru did for a second. He looked around up, then spotted what Navi had seen: a figure was using the lines of flags over the square as a zipline down to the ground from the cathedral. He looked somewhat misshapen. He raised an eyebrow as he dropped off (with some skill that was unlike what his form looked like he had) to the ground. Maru shrugged and turned back to the parade. "Interesting," he mumured.

Then people, who were making some noise already from the topsy-turviness of the parade, made a small crechendo when Figment and Elliot began to march past. Maru had to smile a little; the role-reversal theme played very quite well with the two. Elliot was striding forth with a stern--nothing more--expression on his face, on all fours, towards a knight with a wooden sword, who was holding a beautiful woman "hostage." It wasn't the one Maru had seen earlier, but still, she was pretty. Figment was riding Elliot like a horse, and kept shouting to "unhand her, you feind!" while the night just replied, "NEVAARRRR!!" and laughed evilly. Occasionally, Figment would swipe with a claw out at the knight, who would dodge and swing his sword, also missing. Maru just gave a simple chuckle while everyone else around him laughed very hard at this, as the two were doing this quite foolishly.

Then, the parade came to the wooden stage from before. A line of unparticularly-dashing fellows were lined up in a line, and a jester and the woman from before, who was a main attraction in the parade and whose name was said to be Esmerelda, (not the "damsal in distress" from the parade) were announcing who was to be the "King of Fools." Maru walked over and looked.

A jester in a hat and mask, who appeared to be the one who had led the parade, said for the men to make the ugliest face they can. One tried, and the crowd booed. He was pushed right off into the street. More tried, but one after the other fell, and once three in a row fell.

Maru noticed the misshapen figure from before being thrown onstage, and then he was next in line. "And what about you?" asked the enthusiastic jester, while Esmerelda pulled back the hood of his cloak. Immediately, everybody in the crowd and onstage gasped and started back a bit.

The man's face was quite a sight. One of his eyes seemed to be smaller than the other with swelling over and around it, his nose was enormous, and his relativly small mouth had a tooth sticking out. He had an expression of pure horror on it as he saw everyone staring back in revulsion at him. The man's main feature, though, was that he was hunched, a huge hump of a back on him. Maru was dignified enough to simply raise his eyebrow, eyes a bit wide. 'A hunchback, I see,' he mused. 'Poor guy, must have just wanted to be with everyone from wherever he li--wait...' He glanced at the cathedral. He raised his eyebrows. 'I wonder if...' He glanced around, instinct telling him to, with all this unease around him, search for danger. He found it; Frollo's face was pale and gaping at the man.

The head jester grinned and laughed as he walked over to the hunchback. "Well, well," he announced, patting the disfigure, "it appears that this man is so ugly, he doesn't need to change it at all! I'd say he's the one and only King of Fools this year, wouldn't you agree?" he asked, and the audience slipped right back to normal, and laughed and cheered.

Esmerelda looked at the hunchback, smiling, and the man looked confusedly back at her. The jester went on and took his arm. "Now, then," he said, "let us all cheer for him, and crown him..." A crown, scepter, and even cape was brought over and placed around, on, and in his appearance. "...The King of Fools!!"

As he did this, Maru saw the crowd sniggering and elbowing each other, as if they were all about to start something. Maru had just this worst of all feelings. He sensed mischeif higher than the low level that is good humor, nearer to jeer. 'Uh-oh...'

The people cheered for him, though. The hunchback looked surprised, then he began to smile, feeling obviously very happy. That is, until somebody nailed his face with a tomato. He stopped and put his large hand on his face and drew it back, finding fruit/veggie on it. He was confused now, but confusion changed into horror as people began to pelt him with tomatoes, many rotten, and other unpleasant things. Then some large men grabbed him and, although he raged to resist, tied him to the circular device and began to spin him around, letting everyone get a free shot at him.

And the crowd was roaring with laughter.

Maru was staring, shocked despite his expecting something bad. Not this amount of humiliation, though!! He seethed at the crowd's actions. He felt jeer and unkind laughter all around. Negative emotions. The sky almost appeared to turn red above him with the emotion of the scene.

A blur of cruel laughter and jeers swirled the entire scene, and Maru felt trapped, unable to break free.

"MONSTER!!"

"BARBARIAN!!"

"FREAK!!"

This last one twinged Maru's heart.

"FREAK OF NATURE!!"

'Freak...' The blur increased, and he just couldn't hold on...until one clear, loud female voice shouted, "STOOOP!" Reality switched back to normal in an instant for Maru. Esmerelda leaped out in front of the hunchback and held her arms out. She wasn't happy. People stopped and looked at her. Her bangles tinkled as her body shook from her voice. "What are you? Men? Or monsters?" she demanded. "Have you no shame? Making fun of someone because he can't help how he looks?" She gave quite a whithering look around the crowd before turning and kneeling to the hunchback, head hung now and eyes closed, sorrow wrapped around him amoung the various things on him. Esmerelda wiped some stuff off his face. "Are you all right?" she asked him softly.

The hunchback looked up at her slowly, and Maru just felt something from the hopeless look on his face. Like a tortured and abused animal after a beating, one who had lost all hope of repreive from all the pain and sadness.

But then, things escalated before anything else could happen. Maru immediately felt every single hair on the back of his neck shoot straight out and he turned. "Shit!" he swore, seeing a team of black creatures appear out of midair among and a couple above the crowd, who looked and shrieked. "The darkness of the people must have drawn them like a magnet!!" he muttered.

Figment, still riding on Elliot, who both were just dumbstruck at the humiliation of the hunchback, snapped to attention as they saw the Heartless appear. Elliot, still on all fours, scampered over to Maru, plowing through the crowd. "GANGWAY!!" cried Figment as he did, and soon the two arrived by their teammate. Elliot stood on his hind legs and Figment yelped as he tumbled off. But thankfully, Elliot's huge tail rolled him safely to the ground, where he landed on his feet, shook his head to releive dizziness, and drew a hand. Elliot just stood defensively as usual.

The crowd, smart folks, started running. Heartless began to try and get them, but Maru was already on that. Quickly, his Keyblade had peirced through the center of one of them, through the back of a Neoshadow(there were only two here, so things weren't THAT bad yet)...which immediately disappeared in a cloud of darkness. Maru raised his eyebrows breifly before noticing that there was more work to be done. "Bring it!" he cried, getting in stance.

Figment and Elliot rushed in, but Figment stopped a second and shot an attack card at a rope holding the hunchback. It sliced through, and the man was freed. Esmerelda looked down at him. "Thank you," she said, and began to try and get the misshapen man, who was woozy from the emotions that had been running through him, out of there.

"STOP!!" cried a voice, and the humans saw that it belonged to Frollo, who was pointing accusingly at her. "Leave him at once, gypsy!" he snarled, and guards began to charge towards her.

With a frown, Esmerelda reached into her dress and withdrew something that she threw on the ground. The smokebomb did its job and when it cleared, she and the hunchback were gone.

Figment smiled a little, glad that at least the two were out of there, then went on and continued the battle.

Maru noticed no new foes apart from the Neoshadows. He was fighting and fighting on his own when something appeared behind him. Something large. He turned and gasped as he saw another Heartless like the one he'd captured before standing there, ready to own his ass. 'Shit, my Drive energy isn't restored yet!' he thought aggrivatedly, but then he remembered something as his hand brushed his belt. 'Of course!!' He grabbed the ball and resized it with his free hand. "GO!!" he cried, and threw the monster ball out.

It opened, a ring of light flashing out from it as it did, and, in white instead of red, his latest capture materialized in a beam of light. The ball closed and homed in back to Maru, who caught it and put it away on his belt. He now had a slight challange: Defend himself and command his fighter in a battle. "Navi," he called, looking out of the corner of his eye down to his collar. The fairy appeared out of it, hovering in front of him. "Keep an eye out for anyone trying to attack me while I battle this look-alike of my new friend," he commanded.

Navi nodded. "Right!" She then went to hovering around, looking out.

Maru then got down to business. He thought critically back to when he was fighting the dragonlike creature. He nodded. "Slash, now!" he commanded.

The green-eyed Heartless growled and slashed with his huge reach. It hit--well, sort of. It didn't do much damage, nearly passing through the Heartless. Maru grimiced. 'Okay, note: Normal-types don't do well against the Heartless...they hit though,' he added, seeing it reel back a litle.

The Heartless made no sound as it reeled a little, but then it lunged, trying to take a swing at Maru's Heartless.

"DODGE!!"

Maru's Heartless didn't hear him in time and took the damage. He skidded back a little.

Before Maru could shout another command, "MARU!" Navi squeaked. Instantly, Maru mentally locked onto the foe trying to hit him. With one fluid motion, he spun and slashed with both hands. The Soldier trying to hit him flew back, but was nailed by Elliot's huge tail sweep. He gave Maru a thumbs-up, then went back to work.

Maru nodded and did so as well. His pokémon had taken another hit. "Shit...Uh, Take Down!" he called in a hurry. No reaction. 'Wait, Fighting-type moves would probably do well, since Heartless looks a bit like Dark-types!' He pointed. "Low Kick!" he ordered.

The pokémon understood this and, blocking one blow, launched a kick to the stomach of the Heartless. It didn't sink in, but it didn't look super-effective, either. Maru grima--"MARU!!"--ced and slashed behind him, then returned to his pose before. 'Great, now what? Wait!' "Dragon Claw!" he tried. His dragon reeled back his right arm, claws glowing like Dragon Claw does normally, and then slashed viciously. It hit, and the Heartless stumbled back a bit. 'Super effective? Or just low Sp. Def.?'

The Heartless skidded back and then got up again. It sprang into the air and soared at Maru's combatant at high speed. "DODGE IT!!" Maru ordered. The pokémon barely did so in time. His tail got hit though, and he yelped out in pain and then looked at his enemy with a look of hatred that Maru could tell said, "NOBODY touches my tail!!" His eyes then began to glow red. Maru blinked, clouds of red and black smoke coming from his pokémon's aura(which he could see was normally tainted black). 'Crap!! What is this?? It's familiar...what...what?? DAMMIT!' "MEGA PUNCH!!"

But he didn't listen. It instead crept back a little, coiling for the spring, then launched and slammed his fist and then body right into the other Heartless. Maru recognized it instantly from the tv reports of the Orre region incedents. 'Shadow Rush?! This means...I knew it!!' He looked between his aura-bearing pokémon and the Heartless, who had no aura. 'Once I captured this guy, he became like a Shadow Pokémon! But with somewhat with an opened heart, since he used moves other than Shadow Rush before...'

He had time later to ponder, since he had to think of a way to snap his Pokémon, now out of his control, out of Hyper Mode, which he'd remembered what it was called when his aura went red. 'I don't know his name, so that won't work! WHAT?! ...I'll have to wait.' "SHADOW RUSH!!"

A few Shadow Rushes later, both combatants were panting. Maru realized this one was the last one left before it was all clear, and his teammates were by him, watching. A few tents were down from the ruckus, but surprisingly little overall were harmed. Maru's pokémon was hurt from being too enraged to avoid blows and from his own Shadow Rushes. Maru gritted his teeth. "You've got to use a regular move!" he yelled up at the dragon. "So snap OUT of it, DAMMIT!!" This he shouted with all the vehemence he could muster, and he hoped it worked.

A twitch, and the aura began lessening...not yet, though...

"SNAP OUT OF IT!!" Elliot and Figment helped, looking worried.

"C'MON!!" Maru cried.

Finally, the aura faded and went back to normal black shadowy stuff. The dragon's eyes became clear and green once more. Maru noticed his aura was down significantly from before, but this is more of a big dent than a huge hunk, more like. Maru sighed in releif. "Thank you. Now! Fly!!" The Pokémon took to the skies, and the Heartless did as well. Maru grinned. "Gotcha!" He looked up and cried, "SEISMIC TOSS!!" 'Here's hopin'...'

It worked. The Shadow Pokémon roared, grabbed the Heartless, and began diving, spinning. At the last second, it threw its foe down and pulled up, flying away to in front of Maru again before landing. The Heartless struggled, trying to get up, its white eyes wincing, then plopped down, the eyes turning into the signiture edgy KO spirals of Pokémon fame. It then, to Maru's horror, burst in an explosion like a Heartless, a huge heart floating up and away. But the particles of darkness, he noticed, turned to light as they faded away. Maru tilted his head and pondered this a moment, then nodded and smiled up at his pokémon. "Great job...er...whatever your name is!!" he called, sweatdropping a little. Figment sniggered.

The Heartless roared. His aura was down a LOT from where it was. 'Battle must be the best way to help it out in opening its heart,' Maru thought. He held up the ball. "Thank you, my friend. Return." A white beam shot out from the ball and recalled the pokémon. Maru looked at the ball. He noticed a keyhole symbol on it coming from the button a bit. It looked painted on a little, and the button operated as normal. "Thank you. Have a good rest. And sorry for there being no Pokémon Centers around to help you out. I bet the entry discs would work well." He minimized the ball and put it on his belt again, dismissing the Keyblade, too.

Figment and Elliot clapped and cheered. "Great job, Maru!" cried Figment. "That was awesome! I've never seen a battle like that before!"

Maru chuckled. "I know, aren't they great?" he asked, smiling genuinely. "They can be very exciting...except if the Pokémon doesn't want to battle," he added in a low voice, smile fading as he looked down a little. He sighed and turned to look around. "It seems that we're alone now."

Elliot looked around, uneasy. "Let's hope nobody lost their heart," he said, worried face showing his feelings. That and him wringing his paws.

Maru sighed. He looked at the cathedral. "Well, let's go into Notre Dame," he said. "We'd better find the Keyhole, and that's as good a place as any to go and find it."

The dragons nodded and followed as Maru walked in.


	9. 08: Hey! Party at Quasi's House,,,of God

Maru and company entered the cathedral and saw it full of a few people, praying to God that He stop the awful beasts outside from doing any more harm. They went on deeper inside, quietly, so as not to disturb them. They soon entered an empty chapel, with nothing but candles and pews. There was also a young woman there that looked a little familiar to Maru, especially the fact she had a goat with her. Before he could do anything, though, he heard footsteps from behind and saw Phoebus coming in. He raised his eyebrows as he saw the group. "Well, the brave fighters," he whispered as he slowed by Maru. He gave a slightly cocky smile. "Well done, you three. You fought off those monsters quite well. And harnessing one to do your bidding...!" he added, looking impressedly at Maru.

Maru scowled. "He is my comrade, and he follows my orders only because of trust," he tried to tell himself, but inside, he was uncertain whether his pokémon DID trust him or not. He followed orders, though...

Phoebus' smile faded. "Sheesh, not tryin' to tick you off or anything," he muttered in a semi-mock-hurt tone. He then strode to the woman.

Maru and company were about to continue on when they saw the knight begin to flirt with the woman, when they saw the woman reveal herself as Esmerelda. Her goat wasn't very happy that Phoebus was trying to woo her, apparantly. Maru wanted to know from Esmerelda where the hunchback was, but the two were very busy, and they couldn't interrupt. Going and hiding behind some pews, Maru and his dragon assistants squatted and whispered.

"Why're you so hyped up on finding Hunchy?" asked Figment, raising an eyeridge. He got a feirce glare from both Elliot and Maru for that, which made him sweatdrop and hold his paws in front of him. "Woah, woah! I didn't mean it in a mean way, really! You know that!" he defended, grinning nervously.

Maru shook his head a little. "Well, if we want to get to the Keyhole, which is most likely here in the cathedral," he explained, "we had better ask him. He LIVES here, so he should know where to look."

The scene between Phoebus, Esmerelda, and the goat continued behind them, oblivious to them--even to bulky Elliot's tail and wings sticking up from the top of the pews.

The dragon in question nodded in understanding. "Okay, so where is he?" he asked, tilting his head.

Maru looked behind him at the three. "That's what I wish to discover," he replied gently. "We have to wait until we can get her alone before we can see if Esmerelda knows where the hunchback of Notre Dame is."

"Ah-HAH!" cried a voice, and everyone looked (with Maru, Elliot, and Figment popping their heads up from the pews like prairie dogs) and saw Frollo, hopping mad, striding down to the two who were talking before. "I found you!" he said in a low, menacing voice, pointing at Esmerelda. "Now, I--"

"--Will do nothing at all," finished Esmerelda, standing defiantly. "Do you not realize where we are?" she asked, and motioned around.

Frollo stopped and grimiced. "Inside the cathedral, you witch!" he spat. "I'm not blind!" He then looked at Phoebus. "Captain! What are you DOING there with that foul creature?!" he demanded. "Come at ONCE!"

Phoebus sighed and nodded. "Yes, sir," he muttered and strode over to Frollo like a naughty dog to its master.

Esmerelda, disregarding this, smirked. "Then you should know that this place is a sanctuary." She put a hand on her hip. "So even a 'foul creature' like me cannot be harmed here."

Frollo seethed, clenching his fists. "You--" he began, but a figure walked in and held up its hand.

"She is in the right, Frollo," said the voice of the preist that Maru had met earlier. "You cannot bring ill will within these walls, else your soul will suffer." He was smiling warmly as he strode to be beside Esmerelda. "And, in fact, it is for this reason that I am certain those beasts from before have not managed to enter within. And even if they did, I am certain they would fail at whatever they try," he added, giving the slightest of glances to Maru and the dragons.

Frollo frowned angrilly, shaking with anger, then waved his fist through the air, opening it, as if throwing something. "Fine," he said, calming after the motion. "But as soon as she leaves this place, she is MINE." He turned. "Come, Captain," he ordered, and the two walked out.

Esmerelda sighed in releif (her goat sticking its tounge out after Phoebus) as they left. "Thank you, Archdeacon," she said, looking up at him.

Maru was able to stop himself before gaping, and instead just widened his eyes. 'The Archdeacon?! Woah...'

The Archdeacon just smiled a sad smile. "Frollo, the Judge, has a deep hatred for gypsies, child. I would be very cautious around him," he warned...and Maru sensed it wasn't for Esmerelda alone. He smiled, turned so that he could see the three standing in the pews, and left, making no other words.

Esmerelda tilted her mouth in a frown. "Oooh, boy, I'm in trouble," she mumbled.

"Baa-a-a!" her goat went by her leg.

She looked down. "Djali? What is it?" she asked, looking at her defensively-stanced goat. She followed his[? gaze upwards to see Maru was standing behind her. She scowled. "Great, ANOTHER weirdo who wants to bug me," she growled, putting her hands on her hips.

Maru shook his head. "I simply wish to know if you know where the hunchback is," he asked softly. "I mean neither him nor you any harm." 'This is one of those times where I wish I did not look so intimidating...'

Esmerelda raised an eyebrow. "You'd better not," she warned. "I think he might be up in the belltower. Why do you want to see him?" she asked, crossing her arms suspiciously.

'I thought she took him away...' Maru held up his hands. "No harm to him, of course," he assured her, "but I simply wish to speak with him about...something he might know about," he decided to say, "that is important to me."

Esmerelda raised an eyebrow, but sighed. "I'm sorry, but as much as you helped out with those weird THINGS earlier," she said, "I'm still reluctant to believe you. I'm pretty skeptical about weird-lookin' guys in dark outfits right now. Especially one with weird cohorts," she added, looking to the dragons. She looked at Figment and smirked. "Thanks for the card trick earlier, though, kid," she said to him.

Figment just grinned and bowed. "No problem, m'am."

Maru nodded in his let's-just-get-things-done way. "Well, we're going to see him, and if you want to keep an eye on us, then go ahead," he said, and spun around to go.

The other two followed. And soon, Maru peeked over and saw Esmerelda tailing them. 'Let's hope that the Archdeacon's right...' The party proceeded to some stairs.

Unfortunately, he kinda wasn't. A few times while going up the cathedral, Maru had to battle with Heartless that wanted to hurt them and hinder their progress. He decided he shouldn't let his pokémon have all the fun, since he, too, needed experience. But eventually, the group made it to the belltower. It was beautiful. The sky above let in light through a network of wood and stone and, above them, metal. BIG metal. Maru mentally shuddered at the thought of one of those bells falling down to the floor below, destroying a huge part of the cathedral. Wood was on the floor, and after climbing some steps, they found who they were looking for.

The hunchback was sitting depressed-like at at table. On the table was a miniaturization of the cathedral and the square around it. Myriad figurines made out of wood were there. He had his face slumped in his hand when they saw him. The main group decided to stop and approach quietly. But Esmerelda, spunky girl, just went on walking. The hunchback looked up as he heard her coming, and gasped. He immediately hid his face behind his arms. "Please! Don't look at me!" he begged, voice sounding actually very good despite his looks.

Esmerelda smiled gently and put her hand on his arm. "Don't worry," she said calmly, "I don't mind." She slowly parted the arms and revealed his face. As he looked up into her eyes, the hunchback felt something inside of him ignite. Esmerelda smiled. "That was sure a close call, there," she said, twitching her head backwards. "Glad you made it safely back here."

The hunchback sighed and lowered his face. "Frollo was right," he grumbled, "I should never have left the tower..."

"But you had fun, right?"

The two looked up and saw Figment, followed by Maru and Elliot, coming over. Figment was smiling. "Well, apart from the inhumanity part, I mean," he continued, giving a small chuckle.

The hunchback raised the eyebrow over his normal eye. "Who are you?" he asked in a little bit of wonder.

Figment grinned and put his paws to his hips. "What you see is what others might not," he replied enigmaticly. "And if you DO see me, then it might mean you're...just good at daydreaming," he added after some thought.

Maru raised an eyebrow. "Never thought you were one for riddles," he commented to the pink dragon, who grinned even wider.

The hunchback looked puzzled, muttering and moving his hands as if putting things in place. He thought a little, then snapped his fingers, that wonderful look of understanding on his face. "I can see you, but others can't, and if I can, I'm good at daydreaming," he reviewed aloud. "So you're a figment of my imagination!" He smiled hopefully, a bucktooth showing.

Figment clapped his paws. "That's absolutely correct!" he acknowledged, sounding a little like a gameshow host. "Although, of course, I'm more real than a figment. But that's my name, all right: Figment!" He proudly put a thumb to his chest.

Esmerelda gave an eyebrow raise at Figment, a smile accompanying it. "You're a weird one," she said. "But in a good way, I guess."

Figment grinned and giggled at this.

Esmerelda smiled and turned to the hunchback again. "So, what's YOUR name?" she asked kindly.

The hunchback's smile faded as he looked a little nervous. After a moment, he said, "Quasimodo." He looked a little embarressed.

Maru raised an eyebrow again. ''Half-formed'...Yep, this is the story I know and love...'

While Figment and Maru both knew what that name meant, simple Elliot grinned and said, "That sounds like a neat name!" His manner of speech set the natives off-balance, and Maru quickly translated, explaining that Elliot speaks in a different language.

"One that Maru can only understand," Figment added sulkilly, scowling and crossing his arms like an upset little kid.

Maru gave a helpless shrug. "I'm sorry, but I haven't a clue as to why I'm the only one able to," he lied. 'What I REALLY haven't a clue to is why I can understand him despite him not being a pokémon...maybe it's because he speaks similarly...?'

Quasimodo chuckled a little. "Well, hey, nobody's perfect," he said, and spread his arms out. With a bit of courage, he added, "Heh, hey, I mean, look at me! I'm a freak!" He tried to sound jokingly, but his face still fell a bit as he said it.

Maru pouted a little and narrowed his eyes disapprovingly at "freak.". "Don't ever call yourself a freak!" he half-scolded. He strode forward, clenching a fist. "Be PROUD of who and what you are, because the more different from others that you end up to be, the more of an individual you are. The worst thing in the world is, to me, at least, to know that you aren't original, to know that someone could just choose someone else instead of you for guidance, friendship, help, or anything else." He crossed his arms proudly as he stopped in front og Quasimodo. "Your identity is yours and yours alone, and you should cherish that and be proud of it," he concluded, nodding with a bit of finality.

Then he realized that he'd just made a speech, almost expressing his surprise at himself for doing so. 'I...just gave wisdom...in a way that was meant to uplift one's spirit...?! But I usually brood and argue, not...' His thoughts trailed off.

Quasimodo looked up at him first in surprise, then in shame, then finally in understanding as his words sank in. (Esmerelda looked at Maru with a look that accused him of stealing a line and making it better.) He looked a little better, but he still wasn't as up as Maru had sort of hoped. "Yeah..." he mumbled. "But sometimes, I wish I wasn't THIS different...You're right, though," he said, giving Maru a half-smile. "Thanks for saying that. It helped..." 'A little,' he added to himself.

Maru sighed and smiled friendilly at him. "I try," he said, and wondered if he really does.

Esmerelda looked up. "Those bells are beautiful," she said.

Quasimodo brightened up immediately. "You want to meet them?" he asked, hopeful look on his face. He then realized that he was speaking to more than her, and added, "All of you?"

Maru shrugged, saying Sure; Figment and Elliot made sounds of joy, like a kid who was told he gets to go on a ride. Soon, they were high above the floor below, on rafters while Quasimodo toured them amoung the bells, swinging from one bit to the next with extremely impressive agility despite his body. 'His body DOES make him resemble a gorilla somewhat,' thought Maru as he saw this.

"And who's that?" asked Esmerelda, pointing to a huge bell.

The party walked underneath it, and found that it fit ALL of them in a line. Quasimodo held his arms out. "BIG Maria," he said. His answer echoed around the bell, resonating for a bit.

"Wow..." Esmerelda said, and smiled at Quasimodo, who smiled--shyly?--back.

Maru smirked, crossing his arms. 'Well, now, it seems we've got a little affair on our hands...'

Esmerelda sighed, going out to look at the city. "Quasi..." she said, not looking at him. "I can't really stay here forever...I need to leave somehow. I have a home that I need to return to." Djali baaed in agreement.

Quasimodo's face fell, but he smiled and walked over to her. "I understand," he said softly. "We each have a place we...belong," he said, pausing at the last word. He sighed, then realized something and looked concerned. "Wait, if Frollo sees you, he'll..."

"...Kill me," Esmerelda replied softly. "Frollo will kill me if I try and escape and he finds me." She sighed, wondering how she'll manage it. "I'm trapped here." She slowly slid down to a sit.

Quasimodo thought for a moment, then nodded, a resolute look on his face. It turned friendly as he went to her. "I can help," he said. "I know this cathedral better than he does; I'll find a way out. Trust me." He smiled as she looked at him.

She raised her eyebrow. "What are you planning?" she asked.

"An escape, for you!" replied the hunchback, smiling and motioning with his arms. "Trust me, it'll work," he tried to assure her.

Esmerelda thought a moment before finally nodding and smiling. "Alright, then, Quasi, I DO trust you," she said, standing up.

But just then, Maru sensed something. He looked past the two to a roof and cursed softly--the bell making it audible enough to have all eyes on him. He gave a "Grow up" look at Elliot, who was giving him a look, and then said, "Well, you're going to have to make it quick," he said, "because there are a few unwelcome guests who want to come with." He motioned over at the Heartless coming towards them from the sky. He drew his Keyblade as the two humans gasped. After a second's thought, he said to Figment and Elliot, "I'll go and escort them. You two take care of the belltower and make sure nothing bad happens!" before ducking under the lip of the bell to the two there. "Well, let's go!" he said to them.

Quasimodo gulped, then nodded and grabbed Esmerelda. "Sorry, but you'll thank me later," he said as she yelped in surprise. Her goat leaped up and into an open arm from Esmerelda. He looked at Maru. "You sure you're going to be fine alone?" he asked doubtfully.

Maru nodded. "I'll just follow you," he said. "Don't worry."

Quasimodo nodded, then, with Esmerelda over one shoulder, he leapt off to begin. Maru followed close behind.

Quasimodo did his best Prince of Persia impression as he used the features of the cathedral to swing his way across and over to another street. Maru was close behind, mimicing all that Quasimodo did while wishing he could fly. Whenever Heartless tried to attack, he sent his Keyblade out to them. Quasimodo moved quite fast, and he had to work quite hard to keep up, cape fluttering behind him.

At one point, Quasimodo and Esmerelda fell and landed on a large shingle that loosened and began to scrape downwards across the roof, causing sparks to fly behind it. Maru cursed that he couldn't possibly get the luck to find a loose shingle like that and thought fast. 'Think! Your psychic powers are returning remarkably well! What's the best you can do?!' After a split second, he had it. He created a zone underneath the soles of his shoes using his psychic abilities that acted like a cushion of air that just let him be in the air above the roof while gravity took him away. He did this until he found Quasi and his passenger--about to be attacked by a Darkball! He thrust his Keyblade down with all his might at it, and it was stunned long enough for the two to escape. Maru quickly, as he approached, launched a mighty kick to bat it away and grabbed the handhold that Quasimodo had used, then continued.

Finally, after a while, the two finally dropped down to the other side of the cathedral. The fun wasn't over yet, though, as Maru had to keep them safe while the remaining Heartless existed in the sky above. He was swinging on handholds when he saw a Wyvern fly by. 'Perfect!' He swung onto its back and held on tight as it flew wildly around. While riding it, though, Maru aimed and chucked his Keyblade at the few Darkballs remaining. By the time they had disappeared, Maru had to hold onto the Wyvern with his other hand as he did his Slashfest to it. Finally, it disappeared. But in a cruel twist of fate, it had been defeated far from the cathedral! Maru yelped as he fell, then thought fast, thinking of the coasting trick he did before. He launched quick boosts of psychic force out from his soles, but each one drained him considerably. He could only do three, and they didn't propel him right to the wall. Maru fell, trying his hardest to get farther and to a handhold, but they were stopping fast. In a last-ditch effort, he swung his Keyblade out in hopes that the force of it swinging out would propel him far enough to reach the handhold safely.

It just barely did, and it in fact was the thing that grabbed the hold; in other words, the teeth of his Keyblade were all that kept him from falling down painfully to the stone streets below. (He also noticed the streets were empty, probably because of frightened people.)

Finally, Maru, heart pounding from the thrill, dropped down to Quasimodo and Esmerelda. "That was close!" he breathed, panting a little.

"I'LL say!" Esmerelda scolded, looking at the purple-haired outsider with a pout. "You scared us half to death! If it weren't for that little magic trick you pulled after that thing vanished, you'd be as flat as a card!"

Maru chuckled, smirking. "Well, let's just say I'm persistent," he replied.

Quasimodo smiled. "Thanks for helping, though," he said. He frowned, then had an idea. He dug into his pants pocket and withdrew something. "Here, I want you to have this in thanks," he said, offering a small braid of gold, silver, and bronze wires. "It's something I made out of real precious metals that I keep as a good-luck charm," he explained, smiling.

Maru smiled and accepted the gift. "Thank you very much," he said, pocketing it into a pants pocket as he thought it might poke him in his getting-full-anyway collar. "I'll take good care of it."

Quasimodo smiled and turned to Esmerelda. "Will I ever see you again?" he asked tenatively.

Esmerelda smiled and nodded. "Yes, don't worry," she said. She reached into her shirt and pulled out a necklace. It was a pendant, with an interesting, intricate weaving on it. "And keep this," she added, giving it to him. "It'll help you find me again." She smiled, took a scarf, made it into a shawl, and trotted off.

Quasimodo watched her go off, smiling dreamilly. He then sighed and jumped up, grabbing the handhold. "Well, c'mon," he said to Maru, and the two made it back to his room in the belltower. Figment and Elliot had no trouble, since the Heartless had targeted Maru and Quasimodo. They weren't in sight, however, and as the two men got up(well, man and pokémon), Maru could sense why. He immediately ducked and hid underneath the edge of the balcony, grabbing onto the decorative brickwork of the cathedral that served as the myriad handholds used before. "You'll know what to do," he whispered to Quasi as he did so.

Quasimodo wondered what he meant, but decided to go down nonetheless. He dropped back down, and instantly, the three gargoyles--tall and strong Victor, short and chubby Hugo, and skinny and old-looking Laverne--whooped and cheered from their balcony to him for his score.

"Excellent work, Quasimodo!" clapped Victor, smiling with a bit of dignity.

"Great job with the lady!" Laverne added, also clapping. A few pidgons landed on his head, and he stopped, then waved his arms around telling them to shoo.

Hugo laughed and clapped his stubby hands together. "Hahah! Great? Why, Quasi here's a natural-born ladies' man!" he joked boisterously, hopping over to him.

Quasimodo smiled sheepishly and batted his hand at them. "Oh, c'mon, stop," he said good-naturedly. "I-I don't..." He faltered for a second.

Hugo laughed and elbowed him. "C'mooon, Quasi!!" he pressed. "Admit it, she's gorgeous and you know it! There ain't nothin' wrong with that!" He grinned a wide, toothy grin.

Quasimodo blushed a little, but then heard a few footsteps. Instantly, Victor, Hugo, and Laverne turned solid-still, even though they were out of their respective places. Quasi gasped in a bit of surprise as he looked up at Frollo as he strode in(and seemed to ignore the fact he had a stone statue standing right next to him for no apparant reason). "So...How are you, Quasimodo?" he asked in his usual drawling fashion.

[Note: I have suddenly hit a blank, so in case you hadn't already noticed, I'll be wingin' this part. But moreso.]

Quasimodo at first gulped, then replied, "F-Fine, sir." He backed away a little bit.

Frollo, looking droll and yet menacing at the same time like always, lifted an eyebrow at this reaction. "Quasimodo?" he asked. "You seem a little...on edge. How come?" he asked. His gaze strayed to the miniature-covered table, where something caught his eyes. He immediately reached and took a figurine of a girl with a tamborine in hand. "A new addition?" he asked, a little fervently.

Quasimodo just nodded. "She, uh, um..." He was too panicky, and was at a loss for words.

Frollo, now looking enraged, clutched the figurine and bent to Quasimodo. "This is the girl from the festival, isn't it?!" he demanded. Quasimodo cowered from him. "I already scolded you before! Now, I shall tell you this: Never, EVER mingle with gypsies! They are nothing but evil!" He threw the figurine back down onto the table. "I expect that to be gone by the next time I come," he said, and turned on his heel and left. When he was sure that he was gone, Quasimodo fell to his knees and banged the floor. The entire set of figurines on the table jumped a couple inches.

He felt his shoulder being patted, and he turned and looked up. Elliot, with a compassionate look on his face, was comforting the poor guy as best he could. Quasi sighed, gently took the paw, and slid it off. "Thank you, Elliot," he said. He got up and began up the tower to fetch Maru.

"Are you feeling alright?" he asked as he was hoisted up from his position with ease. "I felt a vibration in the walls and heard that bastard Frollo shouting."

Quasimodo shook his head. "No no no, no, Frollo's not mean," he quickly said. "He gave me this home. He teaches me, feeds me, and gave me the job of bellringer." 'For which you should actually be deaf,' added Maru to himself. 'This must be an alternate version of Victor Hugo's story's world.' Quasi just looked away as he hobbled off ahead of Maru. "He's just...strict, that's all," he tried.

"Strict? More like a tightwad," Figment responded as the two came down. He was sitting on Hugo and flipping his cards from paw to paw. "Sometimes I just wanna blast him with a Fire spell."

Quasimodo shook his head. "No, please..." He looked like he was in denial, secretly confused. "I can't do anything. He gave me this home. I have to respect that...and him." He sighed and sat down. "And I don't think Hugo likes you sitting on him," he mumbled as an afterthought.

Figment glanced down at the statue and raised an eyeridge. Meanwhile, Elliot and Maru turned their backs on him while they turned to Quasimodo, who was fiddling with some of his figurines, especially the one of Esmerelda. Once they were, Hugo came to life and grabbed Figment, then chucked him off. "I ain't your Laz-e-boy," he told him softly, Figment getting up quickly.

The dragon turned and stuck his tounge out. "You were nowhere NEAR comfortible, anyway," he shot back, though he had a bit of a grin on his face.

Hugo stuck his nose up and crossed his arms, "Hmph!" before adopting his normal pose when Elliot turned to look. The green one tilted his head puzzledly, then turned back.

"...I'm sorry, I can't think of what you mean," Quasimodo mumbled. Maru had asked him if knew of a place where he might find a keyhole without a door. "The only keyholes I know of have doors. You could try looking around this place," he offered, motioning to the rest of Notre Dame, "because I agree, Notre Dame could be hiding many secrets. I bet you'll be able to find it." He looked out and thought for a moment. "Hmmm...I think you guys should get out before Frollo comes back and sees you," he said. "Maybe searching the rest of Paris?"

Maru thought a moment and nodded. "Good plan. It was nice meeting you, Quasimodo," he said, bowing. "I hope things turn out well for you."

Quasi nodded, still down a bit, and went back to playing with his stuff while Maru collected his companions and exited. Maru noticed, in a little nook at the bottom of the stairs, another green disk. Figment said he'd set it up after a while. They decided to get some searching done and go down the cathedral the normal method. They met a few Heartless, but nothing too bad. They searched every availible room, but Maru's Keyblade responded to nothing so far. "We'll have to try harder," he declared, and they continued.

Frollo was seen in his room at his home. He was kneeling before his fireplace, hat removed, holding a scarf that he'd gotten from the gypsy girl. "WHY does she TORTURE me so?!" he demanded. "WHY do I LUST for her so?!? Like fire! El fire!" As he spoke, Esmerelda's figure seemed to dance in the flames. "This fire in my skin! This burning desire is turning me to sin!!" He stamped his foot. "Destroy Esmerelda, and let her taste the fires of hell, or else let her be mine and mine alone!" he raved, holding the scarf in his fist.

There was a banging on his door, and he turned to see a guard in the doorway. "Minister Frollo, the gypsy has escaped."

"What?" calmly asked Frollo.

"Nowhere in the cathedral; she's gone."

Frollo looked shocked, putting a hand to his face. "But HOW, I--Nevermind. Get OUT, you idiot," he seethed at the guard. He turned back to the fireplace as the guard left and closed the door. "I'll find her...I'll find her even if I have to burn down all of Paris!!" He threw the scarf into the flames. "Now gypsy, it's your turn...Choose me or you will burn!!" He then stepped a few paces back. "God have mercy on her...God have mercy on me..." He got to a wall. Then he turned. "But she will be mine, or she will BURN!!" he delcared, getting on his knees and throwing his fists up in the air.

[Oh, thank GOD for YouTube!!]

- - -

Maru and company left the cathedral, slightly stronger through the battles but still none the wiser. Maru crossed his arms. "Where could that thing BE?" he wondered aloud. He then saw a carriage pull up with Phoebus standing where it stopped. 'Hmmmm...'

"Well, let's just go around the city," Figment suggested. "Maybe it's not in the cathedral."

"Maybe..." Maru said, and the three started off again, looking around.

The group scoured the entire city, but nothing and Heartless were all they found. They decided to try out on the outskirts of Paris. The first place they tried was at an inconspicuous farm with a great windmill. It all looked terribly dry. They spent a few minutes searching, but nothing was found. "Damn! We're getting NOWHERE!" Maru seethed, gritting his teeth. "Maybe we're just not in the right area...?"

Figment shook his head. "No, usually, the Gummi Ship drops Keybladers off near a Keyhole," he replied. "We may just be unable to find it."

Maru sighed, then saw a few people on the side of the road. He cocked his head and went over. "What's going on?" he asked.

A woman looked at him. "Well, that house is being searched for a gypsy girl," she explained. She wore a purple, face-covering shawl and smoked a pipe, apparantly. She turned back to watch. Maru recognized her voice, but said nothing.

Frollo walked out of the building and barred it with a spear. He then turned to Phoebus, who was standing by. "Burn it," he ordered.

"Excuse me?!" Phoebus stepped forward. Frollo grabbed a torch and shoved it into his hands. "I was never trained to kill innocents," he fought back.

Frollo got onto his horse. "But you WERE trained to follow orders," he replied.

Everyone held their breath in the crowd as Phoebus stood there, torch in left hand. He looked at it, looked at Frollo, then plunged the torch into a nearby waterbarrel, frowning defiantly.

Frollo sneered. "Cowardly fool," he mumbled, and grabbed a torch. Maru gasped and almost charged out to stop him, but Elliot and Figment grabbed him back, saying he'd get into too much trouble. That was when he'd noticed a bunch of guards. The judge held the torch up as a windmill vane swung by. As Maru had thought, the entire farmhouse was set ablaze.

Phoebus gasped, then barged into the house. Later, he came out again carrying the inhabitants within. He gave two babies to two people, then got whacked behind the head. As he was pinned down, the judge came over to him. "The penalty for not following orders is death," said Frollo like it was nothing.

Then, he ordered a guard to take care of the knight. That's when the woman beside Maru grabbed a stone and put it in her shawl. She swung it around and, like a sling, launched it at the rear end of Frollo's horse. The distraction was enough for the knight to get up and knock out the guards around him, jump on Frollo's horse, and race away.

Frollo got up and pointed. "Don't just STAND there, get him! And don't hit my horse!!" he ordered.

"C'mon!" whispered Esmerelda, beckoning to Maru and co., and the four ran off with her in secret. They watched as Phoebus got nailed in the back with an arrow, fell off the horse, and dropped to the lake while he was crossing a bridge. Arrows continued to stream to him until Frollo said not to waste ammo and bustled them along. Then, the four went to the water. "Come on, help me pick him up," Esmerelda said after swimming down and getting the unconcious warrior.

Maru nodded and ran over, grabbing an arm and helping. Then Elliot came and lifted him up with his tail. Esmerelda raised an eyebrow at this, then looked at the dragons. "You two are the real deal afterall, ain't ya?" she asked, gritting her teeth from the effort of pulling along Phoebus.

Elliot nodded, reaching and, with utmost care, removing the arrow sticking from Phoebus' back. Maru removed his armor to lessen the weight.

They began to trudge up the hill to get to the bridge on the other side. Esmerelda looked to Maru. "We've gotta get him to Quasimodo..." she said. "He'll help. I know it."

Maru nodded and they went on their way.

However, it wasn't that easy. Maru cursed as he spotted more Heartless coming their way. "Figment! You help carry Phoebus!" he said, looking at him.

Figment, who was walking alongside them with Djali, gawked. "Are you NUTS?! I'm WAAAYY too small, and I can't carry that much! I'm a dragon, but that doesn't mean I'm super-strong!!" he protested.

Maru grimaced. "Great...and there's too many for you to fight on your own," he said, looking around the road. "And we need to keep moving!!" He thought quickly, then had it. "Right, there's no other choice," he said, and, putting Phoebus on one shoulder, grabbed his monster ball. "GO!!"

In the flash of white light like before, the Heartless-Pokémon materialized in front of them. Esmerelda gasped. "That thing again!!" she said, looking in horror at it. "Are you mad?! That thing lost control last time I saw it!" she scolded Maru, who caught his returning ball and put it on his belt again after minimizing. "What makes you think it'll listen now?"

Maru looked back at her with one eye. "Hope," he said, and, with two arms to help carry Phoebus, shouted, "I need for you to help take care of any Heartless in our way while we fight!! Figment will help you!! Now start moving!"

The large beast looked at Maru, then began to move forward. Slowly. But Figment was left shucking cards alone. Maru wanted to slap his forehead. He groaned and held Phoebus with one arm while he pointed at one Heartless and shouted, "MEGA PUNCH!!"

The pokémon roared and, with a glowing fist, obliterated the enemy Heartless. A few Large Bodies began blocking the road. Maru pointed again. "Tackle!!" No response. He sighed aggrivatedly, then commanded, "...Shadow Rush!!"

The pokémon growled, coiled up, then sprang out and struck the three in a row with no regards to their sheild-like fronts. It didn't enter Hyper Mode, thankfully. Maru sighed in relief and continued to command his pokémon as they ran as fast as they could to the city of Paris...which was burning by the time they neared it.

Esmerelda gasped in horror. "Paris! It's on fire!!" she cried in dismay.

Maru growled. "I can't BELIEVE it!!" he shouted. "That fool is stupid enough to believe that he can find you by burning down the city?! I wonder if he's considered the fact you might be burned to death...Aw, crap, Fat Bandits!!" He pointed again at the row. "Shadow Rush!"

This was the third time he'd commanded it. And, of course, it was the charm. After it stopped them, the pokémon entered Hyper Mode and began to go after everything.

""STOP IT!!"" cried Maru and Figment, and then Elliot said so in his language. "CUT IT OUT!!"

Maru grimaced in horror as the thought occured to him that he might not succeed this time. 'NO! I won't give up!!' Then, with all his might, he cried, both physically and psychically, '"SNAP OUT OF IT!!"'

BAM! That did it!! And with so much battling, the aura had already gone down the equal to a full bar. Another bar down from being recalled from Hyper Mode, and it was pretty low. The aura faded, and the pokémon made a little "Reh?" at being snapped out. It then roared fully, back to normal. Maru sighed in relief, but he felt Esmerelda kick his butt from behind. "AAUGH!! What the fuck was THAT for?!" he demanded, snapping to her.

"For being a fool and risking ourselves getting hurt by your beast!" she answered sternly. "Try and play around with it when there's nobody who could get hurt around!"

Maru scowled, then turned back. He knew she was right, but he really didn't want to deal with it at the moment. He didn't have to use Shadow Rush again, but he still had to have him out for a while before they finally got to Paris. It had quickly turned to night by then, night illuminated by the firelight.

"I just don't believe it," Maru muttered as they entered the city. "I just don't...How could he?" He shook his head. "Tightwad? More like..." And then he stopped. Realizing he'd almost called Frollo what he had been not too many years ago.

"There aren't any more Heartless, Maru," Elliot said, looking around. "You should put your friend away before he scares somebody."

Maru nodded and held the ball out. "Return!" The pokémon returned to its ball in the flash of white light again, and Maru looked at it. "What is your name?" he whispered to it. No answer. He shook his head and put the ball away. "Quickly, we've got to get to the cathedral now!"


	10. 08: Court Martial

Quasimodo was standing by himself, looking at his new, even better carving of Esmerelda. He'd thrown the old one out, because it was very shodilly made. He really didn't care much if it was out there in the open anymore. He sighed. "Maybe...she doesn't like me," he said.

"Oh, ridiculous!" Victor said, coming from behind. He counted off on his fingers. "You're kind, brave, strong, and talented."

"You're quite the prize, Quasi," Laverne said, coming and lightly punching the big guy on the shoulder.

"There's no WAY she couldn't like you!" Hugo said, hopping over. "Don't you worry, okay?"

Quasimodo looked a little doubtful as they said all this, but he couldn't help but feel a little better from their cheering faces. "Thanks, guys," he said.

"Quasimodo?"

Quasi gasped. "Esmerelda?" He ran down the steps to his room and his face lit up upon seeing her. "Esmerelda! I'm so glad to see you!" he said joyfully, just going ahead and hugging her.

To his surprise--though he didn't show it--she hugged back. She even held on when he drew away and held her hands. "I've been waiting to see you, too, Quasi," she said softly, smiling, "and you've done so much for me already, but I need your help one more time." She let go and began walking back to the door.

"Anything," Quasi said in elation, going after her. He stopped, though, when he saw Maru and Elliot carrying Phoebus. Maru held a shoulder, Elliot's tail provided a seat.

"This is Phoebus, and he's been badly wounded," Esmerelda explained. "We need a place to hide him. Could you please provide one?" she asked.

Quasimodo, though he'd prefer Phoebus to not be there, motioned with his arm to a blanket with a small pillow, a small candlabra lighting it. The two set him down there and stepped back. He looked at them. "Did you find that keyhole you were looking for?" he asked.

Esmerelda raised an eyebrow. 'Keyhole...?'

Maru shook his head. "No. We were at a farm, of all places, when Frollo comes, searches the house, finds nothing, then burns it. Phoebus saved the family, but got shot trying to escape. He's a hero to that family," he explained.

Speaking of, Phoebus was coming around, groaning. Esmerelda crouched over him, starting to tend to his wounds. As she stitched his wounds, he asked, "Why is it that whenever we meet, I've got to be bleeding?"

Maru looked around and saw things were pretty stable. Quasimodo wasn't really happy as he watched Esmerelda and Phoebus, who were doing quite well. His instincts telling him what was about to come, he turned to leave them alone. The other two did the same. They went outside the doorway for the time being.

"Where in the city haven't we looked?" Maru asked, trying to take his mind off the scene he'd avoided observing. "Unless there's a secret hideout of some sort, we've pretty much looked everywhere."

Figment shrugged. "I dunno, but I really don't think that we should be focusing on that," he said, looking down from the balcony of the walkway and at the burning city with concern, Elliot looking just horrified at the whole thing.

Maru sighed and shook his head, walking over. "There's nothing that only we three can do," he said softly, putting a hand on either shoulder. "We're fighters, but not firefighters. There's too much burning. We can't handle it ourselves."

Elliot whimpered. "But those people--!"

Maru nodded sadly. "I know, I know..." He looked down at it with thoughts in his mind. 'Frollo...I know in the book that he loves Esmerelda, but...Yowch, burning the city? I don't know if I remember that...How does a JUDGE have that amount of power??' His senses went off, then. 'Speak of the devil...' "He's coming," he said, and grabbed the two and raced into Quasi's room.

The scene was over. Quasimodo was gone, but when Maru shouted, "FROLLO'S COMING!!," he raced out. "Frollo's coming?!" he asked incredulously.

"Yes. You'd better hide him," he said, pointing to Phoebus.

Quasimodo stopped and glared at Phoebus. "Please, Quasimodo," said Esmerelda, coming over and clasping her hands together in askance. "You must!"

Quasi stood for what seemed the longest time, looking at her. His unhappy expression turned into compassion as he said, "Alright." He looked at Maru and the others. "I'd advise you guys hide, too," he said, then told Esmerelda, "You have to go now. Get out of here before it's too late!"

She nodded and hugged him once before going. She paused a split second before Phoebus, then ran and raced down a trapdoor that Quasi had opened for her to get out from.

Then, Quasimodo raced furiously to conceal the now-sleeping Phoebus. Maru was going to help, but saw that he might just fluster him. So, he decided to find a place to hide. 'And I suppose hiding in a cardboard box is not an option in this case...' Figment had been able to hide inside a box, actually, since he was so small. Elliot had the hardest time hiding, but ended up going behind a curtain, hoping for the best. Maru decided to hide behind a large pillar, since that was the best choice for him to get a good vantage point and still be unseen. He was alert and able enough to move wherever he sensed the dark presense that was Frollo come near. If need be, he'd move swiftly around while the judge tried peeking around quickly, trying to fool him. 'I wish I could fly again,' he moaned.

Soon enough, of course, Frollo entered. He had a basket with him, Maru saw. He didn't have the slightest suspicion that Maru was there, from what he could see. But looks could be decieving. Quasimodo was pretty frazzled that his master was coming when he had to hide something. Maru looked and, after looking carefully, could see that he had hidden Phoebus under the table.

"M-Master!" Quasimodo said, still busy trying to set up his figurines right. "I-I had no idea you were coming!" He was pretty jumpy.

"Now, now, my dear boy," Frollo said, coming, "I always have time to see you." He put on a little smile and sat, saying, "I thought I'd bring you a little treat."

Quasimodo had also sat down. A moment passed, then Frollo cleared his throat. "Oh!" Quasi said, and got up and rushed to a shelf. He hurriedly grabbed down some stuff, looking back at Frollo, when a plate on a lower shelf broke with a loud clatter. Maru cringed a little at the noise; these sorts of situations always makes you high-strung to loud noises. Hurriedly, Quasi rushed back and set down a wooden plate for himself and a stone one for Frollo.

Frollo raised an eyebrow at him. He reached into the basked and brought out a bunch of grapes. "Is something troubling you, Quasimodo?" he asked.

"Oh..." Quasi said, breifly glancing down as he held the edge of the table, "no!"

"Ooohh, but there iiis," drawled the judge, picking a grape and looking at it in his hand before eating it. "I know there is." He grinned widely with a smile that reminded Maru of The Joker from the first live-action Batman movie. He held his grape bunch and let a grape fall from it. It bounced and rolled to Quasimodo ever so slowly. He looked at it, hesitated, then saw it drop to the floor by the feet of a statue holding up the table. He glanced at Frollo, then, still trying to look at him, reached down and groped for it. Maru saw Phoebus lying quite near to it. Frollo raised an eyebrow. "I...think...you're hiding something," he slowly said.

Maru clenched his teeth as he spied them. "Oh, no, master...There's...a..." he stumbled in his speech, and was cut off by Frollo.

"You're not eating, boy," he said darkly.

Quasimodo hurriedly grabbed the grapes off the bunch and shoved them into his mouth. "It's very good," he said with his mouth full, sticking even the one he picked up off the floor in. "Thank you..."

A sound emitted from beneath the table. "Nnnnngh..."

Quasi quickly tried to cover Phoebus. "Mmmmmm!!"

"Uuugh..." Maru gawked as he saw Quasimodo kick Phoebus, who was raising his head, and knock him back. To cover, he began to cough, beating his chest as if self-Heimliching.

Giving a nervous smile, he pointed at the remaining pile of grapes on his wooden plate and explained, "Seeds."

Frollo shifted from raising one eyebrow to another at this behavior when he looked around. Maru quickly hid. "Is there something...different...here?" he asked, standing up.

Quasimodo again hurriedly said, "N-no, there isn't." He added, "Sir," after a second.

Frollo looked down and grabbed the figurine that had probably been in plain sight to him since he'd first sat down. "Isn't this one...no...this one's new," he declared. "Higher-quality than the last one. It's new, isn't it?" he asked, examining it. "It's very good...Very much like the..." He looked down at Quasimodo, who was starting to lean back a bit in horror. "...gypsy girl."

Then, slowly, he flowed from calm to mad, gritting his teeth and voice rising as he said, "I know...you helped her esCAPE!" At this, he grabbed a corner of the table and banged the figurine down with his other hand, causing Quasi to fall backwards out of his chair. The judge looked pissed off. BIG-time. Quasimodo was on the floor, cowering a little at the man who threw down the figurine, saying, "And now, all Paris is burning because of YOU!" At that, he threw a finger at Quasimodo, who looked at it in horror.

Maru fought growling audibly. And it was a very difficult battle, too.

In an effort to defend himself, Quasimodo said, "She was KIND to me, master..."

"YOU IDIOT!!" shouted Frollo, first bringing his arm down and then sweeping it across the table, knocking down the hard-worked-on miniaturization of the surrounding area. He then circled the table. "That wasn't KINDNESS, that was CUNNING! She's a gypsy!" Here he grabbed the poor hunchback by the lapels (so to speak, since there were none on his simple tunic shirt) and brought him up. "Gypsies are not capable of real LOVE!!"

Maru wanted to deck him so bad, he was clutching the pillar he was behind, eyes beginning to glow. 'Don't give yourself away, fool!' He fought to keep his rage under control.

"THINK, boy!!" spat Frollo, shaking Quasi, and he brought him face to face. "_Think of your mother!!_" His face looked of rage, then, trademark to the man, faded back to normal. "But what chance does a poor, mis-shapen boy like you have against her heathen treachery?" He stood as he said this, and drew a dagger. "Well," he whispered, and nonchalantly stabbed the figurine of Esmerelda. "Never you mind that what we'll do. She'll be out of our lives soon enough." He then held her, like a kid roasting a marshmallow, over the upturned candlestick's flame. She soon was set ablaze. He then flicked his wrist, sending the fireball to the front of Quasimodo, where it rolled. "I will free you from her evil spell. She will torment you no longer."

Quasimodo looked in horror at his work as it fell, then up at him. "What do you mean?" he asked in a whisper as Frollo re-equiped his hat and began to leave.

"I know where her hideout is," he said, stopping when near the door and awfully close to where Maru was hiding. "And tomorrow at dawn--" He spun sharply around. "I will attack with a thousand men." With this, he finally left, pausing a moment to look back with a sneering smile as Quasimodo looked in shock at his burned work.

When he was finally completely gone and out of earshot, Maru jumped out and shouted down the steps he'd left by, '"GO TO HELL, YOU HEARTLESS ASSHOLE!! GO TO HELL AND BURN, JUST LIKE THE CITY YOU SET ABLAZE FOR YOUR OWN SELFISH, FOOLISH DESIRES!!"' with both mind and voice. He stood there, panting in rage and faintly, very faintly, so faint that you wouldn't see it if it were dark, glowing light blue. "You're just as bad as Giovanni," he whispered. "Only wanting things for yourself, not caring how others you manipulate feel." He clenched his fist tightly. "How DARE you hurt his heart!!" he seethed.

It was then that he realized that that made Quasimodo a very susceptible target. He spun quickly around, ready to fight, but there was just Quasimodo, still looking sadly at his figurine. Figment and Elliot were out of hiding, too, and looking at Maru in awe from what he'd said. "Maru..." Figment said quietly, stepping forward and reaching up to him.

Maru looked down to his feet while he walked slowly to Quasimodo. "I'm sorry about that," he said softly. "He just really burns me up. I still have trouble managing my rage sometimes. I'm sorry if my actions weren't what you expect from me." He stopped by Quasimodo and was about to talk.

"But that wasn't rage, Maru!" Figment said, running forward to him, smiling somewhat. "That was a GOOD kind of anger: Righteous indignation! You weren't in a rage, angry for yourself..." He waved his paw to to indicate Quasimodo. "You were angry for Quasimodo," he said gently, as if he were happy.

Maru blinked, but still hung his head. His hair hung loosely around his face. "True that may be, but I shouldn't've yelled like that...especially with both ways." He sighed and crouched. "Quasimodo..." He stopped for a moment, then nodded. He held his hand out to the charred Esmerelda. He focused all of his energy into it. His hand glowed faintly, then brighter as he focused harder. His head began to pound.

Quasimodo gasped at this, and saw the doll begin to glow, too. "Wh-what are you doing, Maru?" he asked, looking at him incredulously.

"Helping," strained the pokémon, gritting his teeth and eyes beginning to go bloodshot from what was seen from his fight to keep them open. The figurine floated up, then began to spin. As it spun around, it was as if somebody had hit a "rewind" button on it. With no flames, it slowly uncharred and rebuilt itself. Fragments from smoke flew back to it and rejoined. Ashes jumped up and pasted themselves on it again. Quasimodo, Figment, and Elliot watched in wonder as Maru, whose first two and second two fingers had glued together to form three "fingers," repaired the figurine. Finally, with the last fleck of paint, Esmerelda's figurine stopped. With a gasp like he had barely made it to the surface for air from being underwater, Maru let go and fell to the floor, gasping.

"""MARU!!""" everyone shouted in dismay. He lay there, panting. They noticed that his eyes were red and sorely bloodshot. Elliot gaped in horror at his friend. "Maru...What...why...?" he asked softly, gently picking his friend up and holding him. He sat down and laid him on his tail, which he curled in front of him.

Maru wheezed, then slowly brought his hand to his head. "...Because..." he began, then couldn't help but cry in pain a little. "Ow, my damn HEAD!!" He gritted his teeth so tight, you'd be surprised they didn't break. His fists were clenched, his eyes were clenched, his toes in his shoes were clenched, and his face was, too. He held his head with his fists, fighting against all-out shouting and instead making "NNNNGNNNGNGGG--NNNNGGGGG!!" noises.

Elliot bore an expression of emotional pain, holding his companion. "Maru..." He closed his eyes. "What'll I do...?" He thought furiously, trying to find a way to stop his friend's pain. He wondered if Maru had anything with him that would help, and gently looked in is collar. He looked from bottle to bottle of potions, then finally found one bottle that read, "Full Heal. Cures any status ailment." He looked at it and saw it was like a spray bottle he'd seen Maru use once when he was hurt. "Here's hopin'," he said, and spritzed some in Maru's hair.

Maru still moaned in pain, but then, after a moment, his moaning lessened, and he simply lay there, breathing. After a few moments, his eyes were normal again, too. He blinked, vision a little blurry still, and looked up at Elliot, who had the yellow bottle in his paw still. "...Elliot...?" he asked weakly, then slowly sat up. His head hurt still a little, but not as much. He groaned. 'Last time I act THAT foolish,' he berated himself, holding his throbbing head. "How did you find out...Full Heal cures headaches?" he asked, looking up. "I never knew that could happen..."

Elliot, eyes watery from being so happy his friend was okay now, just hugged him(causing him to make an "Urk!"). "Oh, thank GOODNESS you're fine!" he said breathlessly, a few tears rolling down his cheeks.

Maru mrfed and struggled. "Ah, th-thank you, Elliot," he gagged, "but, ah...I think you're starting to hurt me more than help me..." Elliot quickly let go. Maru chuckled lightly and gave a weak smile up at him. "Heh-heh...Uhgh...Thank you, Elliot, but I'm still a little woozy from the headache...and thanks for helping that, too..." He reached out for the Full Heal, which he then stowed into his collar. 'I'll see if the circle helps with that...'

Figment walked over. "What the heck happened, Maru?" he asked. "I mean, I know by now you're psycho, but--"

"Psy-CHIC," corrected the pokémon, nonplussed.

"--what the heck was that all about?!" Figment finished, glaring at him. "You scared us all half to death!!"

Maru sighed and shook his head. "I'll...tell you later," he said.

Quasimodo, holding the figurine, looked in wonder at him. "Maru...You..." He looked at the figurine, then held it up to Maru. "How on Earth did you do this? And why did you make yourself go through that pain to do it?" he asked, stunned a little.

Maru smiled weakly. "It's because I felt sorry for you," he replied. "I knew I was in for some pain, but I guess I didn't know how much. Now I know, though..." He gave a weak chuckle.

Quasimodo shook his head. "You didn't have to do that," he said, "I can always make another one. You just hurt yourself for something so...so small when you'll need your strength to fight those black things that we keep running into," he objected. "You didn't have to do that for someone like me..."

Maru shook his head. "That's exactly why I did it," he said. "Because of who you are. You are a lot like I was...I beleived that the world rejected me, that it was not a place for me to be...but I've learned since then. And seeing you...I remembered myself, and I felt a sort of connection." He smiled and put his hand, back to normal, on the figurine. "So I felt especially sorry for you when you looked so helplessly at your figurine. That's why I fixed it." He removed it and smiled, then got off Elliot's soft tail(a smidgen reluctantly, since it was actually very comfortible compared to what he was used to).

Quasimodo smiled and nodded. "Thank you so much, Maru," he said, and put the figurine on the table. "You're an amazing person."

Maru couldn't help the Mewtwo smirk that spread across his face. "I'll admit I AM a bit more," he said, then realized his cockiness and laughed. "Sorry, I can get a little cocky sometimes."

"Uhhhhg..." said a voice from underneath the table. Everyone turned. "If you're all done with that headache, how about paying attention to this one?" asked Phoebus wearilly, still lying down.

Quasimodo put his hand to his mouth. "I forgot!" He rushed over to help him out while Maru and the others chuckled.

Twenty or so minutes later, Phoebus was fully awake and informed of what happened. He stood up straight, recovered enough from his wound to do such things. "What?! He's going to storm the Court of Miracles _tomorrow morning_?!" he asked incredulously.

Maru nodded while Quasimodo tilted his head in confusion. "The Court of Miracles, the hideout of the gypsies," he explained. "Yes. I don't know if he's bluffing or not, though...but we need to find it somehow and warn them of what's going to happen."

Phoebus frowned and looked out the window. "Especially because dawn isn't that far off," he added.

Maru was bewildered at the way time passed with all this action in this world. "Well, there IS a problem," he said. "We haven't a clue how to get there."

Phoebus grimiced and turned to Quasimodo. "Quasimodo! Did Esmerelda give you anything? Like a sign, a key, a map?"

Quasi, back to normal, scowled at Phoebus. "Yeah, she gave me this thing," he said, and pulled it out. "I don't know what it is, though..."

Phoebus took it and looked. "Hmmmm...It's some sort of map," he said. He tilted it a few times, turning it, then nodded and traced his finger along a few lines. "Well, we're here, at the church," he said, pointing to a cross. He pointed to another symbol. "And here's the Court of Miracles. The rest must be roads and streets in the city."

Quasimodo nodded and took it. "Well, then, let's go," he said, and took his gift back and put it in his shirt. He then got up and began to rush out, grabbing his cloak. Phoebus and the others followed. (Maru took a quick pitstop at the green disk and found that, indeed, it cured his headache.)

Guards patrolled the cathedral now, so they couldn't exit the normal way. They had to escape the way that Quasi had done before, except now it was night and there were many more people coming along. To make things worse, the Heartless returned. Maru devised a plan. "Elliot, you're going to have to try your best and follow Quasimodo and Phoebus while carrying Figment. I'll fight off the Heartless."

Elliot gulped, but he nodded and Figment hopped onto him and clutched to one of the strings keeping the green guy's armor on him. "Hi-ho Silver!!" the rascal cried. Elliot did not look amused, but he walked up to the place where Quasi was about to exit.

"Follow me closely, guys," he said. To Phoebus, he said nothing, not even a "Hang on," and started out, Phoebus clutching him for his life.

With a deep breath, Elliot went and followed.

Maru went last, drawing the Keyblade again. He went through the same paces as before, but it was a little harder now since it was nighttime. He made it, though, down the new alternate path the troupe took downwards. They finally landed safely and Maru cleared the sky of Heartless. Again, though, he was far from the handholds. He tried the boosts and swing again, but missed this time. Flailing helplessly as he fell, he mused at this irony that he should fall to his death instead of be killed in battle.

Elliot made sure he was in no danger, though, and caught him. "Don't worry, Maru, I'll protect you!" he reassured his friend, putting him down.

Maru smiled up at him. "Thank you, Elliot." He turned to the other two, who were consulting the map. "We got directions right?" he asked.

They were having a bit of trouble orienting it right, but finally figured out a landmark and set off through the streets. But the guards had long-gone, Heartless replacing them. Maru and company quickly dispatched them, since, although he was strong, Quasimodo didn't quite know how to fight, and had no weapon. Phoebus didn't have his sword on him, so HE was screwed. They were safe, though, since Maru was around to, with his comrades.

Eventually, they made it to the graveyard. A coffin stood bare, and after awhile, they figured out how to enter and proceeded downwards. Phoebus held up a torch as they walked along. Vaulted arches flew above them, piles of bones on the sides, and green stuff on the bottom that they waded through.

"Is this the Court of Miracles?" asked Quasimodo, looking about.

"If you ask me, I'd reckon it's the Court of Knee-Deep Sewage," replied Phoebus nonplussed. "Look at this place! Makes you wish you got out more, huh?" he asked jokingly.

Quasi shook his head. "No, not really...I just want to get Esmerelda and get back to the bell tower before I get into any MORE trouble..."

Maru could have sworn he'd seen a bone move behind him as he waded in the muck. When they got out, Phoebus started to notice something. "Something's missing," he said.

"What?" asked Quasimodo.

"Don't you think we would've met someone by now?" he asked. "Y'know, a GUARD, or a booby trap--" He stopped as his torch went out.

"--Or an ambush," Maru line-stole. A light went up, and they were surrounded by people in bone suits who gathered around and jumped them before Maru and company could draw their weapons. It took a few people, but Elliot was pinned to his knees, as was everyone else.

Clopin, the lead jester from the parade, held up a torch. "And who do we have here? A bunch of SPIES, perhaps?" he asked, looking at their faces.

"We're not spies!" said Phoebus as someone gagged him with a cloth.

"You've got to--" Quasi tried to say as he, too, was gagged.

Everyone else was gagged, but Maru thought he'd find a way around it. ''We're NOT spies!'' he sent to Clopin, but, to his surprise, he went forward and clocked him on the head with another, unlit torch he had.

"DON'T interrupt me!" he scolded. "And that includes voice-throwing!" And then he began to dance around, singing a strange song about how they're in the Court of Miracles--but they "won't be around to reveal whay they've found." They were bound and carried off to the main room of the Court.

It was big and looked like an underground city. Gypsies walked about, brightly-colored cloths were hung around, and a gallows was in front of the large chamber. Clopin stepped up and declared, "Ladies and gentlemen!" He held up one of the nooses. "We've got good 'noose' tonight," he said, and the crowd laughed. "It's not just a double-header, but a FINTUPLE-header!!" he crowed, and Quasimodo and Phoebus were sent up and had nooses put around their necks.

"BOOO!!" went the crowd after Clopin revealed them as Frollo's spies.

"It's the captain of the guard--" he introduced, first standing by Phoebus, standing in a salute, then did a hunchback impression as he went across to Quasi, "and his loyal, bell-ringing henchman." He then motioned to the rest of them behind. "As well as our two 'well-costumed' dragon fellows from the parade, and their agent," he said, talking about the dragons and Maru. Clopin then went to the lever and asked, "Any last words?"

All the two around the nooses could get out was a few muffled mmf's.

"That's what they all say," Clopin said. "We find you totally innocent, and that is the worst crime of all, so you're going to pay!!" He grabbed the lever and just started to pull it when a voice cried out, "STOP!!"

Clopin stopped midway and looked. Esmerelda, with Djali, was striding through the crowd. "They're not spies! Trust me, I know them!" she said.

Clopin laughed and took off the nooses, others untying them. "Well," he chuckled, "why didn't you just say so?"

""We did!!"" replied Quasimodo and Phoebus, now they could speak again.

Maru ran up as Quasimodo said, "At morning tomorrow, Frollo's coming and storming the Court of Miracles, with a thousand men!"

Everyone gasped. Quasi and Phoebus hopped down to her as Maru stated, "It would be very wise to evacuate as soon as you possibly can."

Quasimodo breifly held Esmerelda's hands. "Why did you risk your necks coming down here?" she asked.

The hunchback smiled. "I didn't want Paris or you to get in any more harm," he replied

"Nor would I," agreed a cold voice.

Everyone turned and saw, to their horror, Frollo and, as he'd said, an army of a thousand men enter into the Court of Miracles. People screamed and shouted as soldiers poured in and grabbed people. Maru cursed and drew his Keyblade, then leapt down to start his assult. However, the men proved too smart and in too many numbers for him to hack away through. Even Elliot was grabbed and held, with difficulty.

The only one not grabbed was Quasimodo.

Frollo strolled over to Esmerelda, looking about in wonder and holding his hand up to emphisize. "After 20 years of searching..." he said as he walked down the steps to them. "The Court of Miracles is mine at last." He passed by a dumbstruck Quasimodo and grinned his vile grin at him, then looked normal again. "My dear Quasimodo," he said, and actually petted the man's humped back, "I always KNEW you would be of use to me."

"No!" breathed Quasi as he turned to see Frollo continue on.

"What are you talking about?" asked Esmerelda, sneering at the judge.

"Why, he led me right to you, my dear," smiled Frollo, stopping near her.

"You're a liar," Esmerelda returned.

"And look what else I've caught in my net," went on Frollo, walking to in front of Phoebus. He grinned and held out his hands, crossed them again as he continued, "Captain Phoebus, back from the dead." Phoebus tried to break free and throttle him, but to no avail. "Another...'miracle,' no doubt," sneered the judge as the captain tried to get towards him, but was pulled back by the soldier. As he was, Frollo leaned forward to keep a close distance between their faces. "I shall remedy that." He then turned and walked off.

He went to a center of a ring of soldiers, in which Quasimodo, still flabbergasted, stood. "There'll be a little bonfire in the square soon and you're ALL invited to attend," he announced, turning to face all the captured gypsies. As the poor people looked at him in horror, Frollo pointed to the guards holding Phoebus and Esmerelda and ordered, "Lock them up." The guards began to drag them away.

"No..." objected Quasimodo.

As she was taken away, Esmerelda shouted, "MARU!! YOU HAVEN'T LOOKED HERE YET!!" before a hand was placed over her mouth to shut her up.

"Lock them up, too," he added, pointing to Maru and company, who were dragged off in a different direction.

"Please, master!" begged Quasimodo, falling on his knees and clutching the bottom of Frollo's robe. But Frollo turned and gave him a whithering look. All Quasi could do was look up in shock at his master's face and then fall down to his hands and knees. "No, no..." he whimpered.

"Take him back to the belltower," ordered Frollo like it was nothing. "And make SURE he stays there," he added as a guard took either great arm and began to carry the hopelessness-ridden hunchback.

"NO!!" cried Maru, fighting to break free as he saw the friends he'd made of the world's natives. He fought with all his might, but was still a far cry from his impossible strength from before that fateful night. He knew this had to happen, but he didn't WANT it to happen. He always hated bad endings, and wanted to change it, quickly. Before things began to get out of hand. And adding onto that was the Heartless factor; what if they attacked before he could actually get there? What if they stole the hearts of them all? As relatively minor a role they played here, they were still a threat.

Frollo stopped and waited as Quasimodo was dragged out before calling out to Maru, "And you, my purple-haired freak, won't even have a chance to try and save them. I've met a very interesting individual who will help me in this case. I'm certain you'll feel you're on familiar ground if you manage to have to fight him." He gave a last, cruel smirk, very unlike Mewtwo's, and went off.

Maru raised an eyebrow, but then started to wrestle free again, to no luck. He growled and looked at his comrades as they were being pulled into a hallway. "I can't break loose!" he called.

Elliot just gave a hopeless shake of his head, while five people were holding onto him: Three to his arms and two to his tail. But when everyone looked at Figment, they almost stopped moving, then fought bursting out in laughter, except for Maru and Elliot. The poor guy, short and weak as he was, was being held in ONE hand by someone who was walking along, other hand behind his back and whistling happilly.

Figment leered. "AW, SHADDUP AND QUIT MAKIN' FUN OF ME 'CUZ I DON'T HAVE AS MUCH STRENGTH AS YOU DO!!" he roared as loud as his squeaky voice allowed.

Maru, who couldn't help but smile a little bit at his predicament, shook his head. "Sorry..." Then it hit him. "Strength..." he looked at Elliot. "That's IT!" He smirked his Mewtwo smirk. "ELLIOT!!" he called.

Elliot turned his head to him.

Maru's smirk broke into a grin-smirk. "LEND ME YOUR STRENGTH!" he asked, his clothing beginning to glow.

Elliot and Figment gasped in delight, then the big guy nodded, smiling dangerously. Instantly, his body became pure light as he shot towards Maru.

"DRIVE!!" roared the Keyblader, and the solders all yelped in surprise at this turn of events and a flash of light from him. When it faded, they stood dumbstruck as a red monster stood before them. The one holding him blinked in surprise before Mewtwo turned his head to smirk at him. WHACK!! His tail, which hadn't been expected by the soldier, smacked the poor guy on the noggin, causing him to loosen his grip. Instantly, Mewtwo spun around and did a double slash with his Keyblades to knock him down.

Figment had taken the opportunity to break free after his captor had loosened HIS grip a smidgen from surprise. He whacked with his tail as hard as he could, then dropped down and threw a card at his face. Looking at the amount of guards, and the fact that Maru's red Drive form was better suited to either small groups or to big foes, decided it was his turn to go all-out. So, pushing his skills to the limit, the purple dragon grabbed his entire deck, leaving only item cards, and spun around, quickly flicking off cards from the top of the deck at everyone. After a moment, he thought up a name for it: "Here's the deal...BLACKJACK!!"

Every card seared for a target and launched its effect. Mostly attack cards, true, but some magic cards also caused interesting effects. The only ones he didn't use were healing ones. When he had run out of cards, Figment stopped his spin, then teetered about a little, dizzy from his multiple spins. "Wo-ooa-ooaaahh!! L-l-lookit...all the...cards...wheeeeee..." Cards spun around his head as he was momentarilly incapacitated.

Mewtwo looked in amazement, then slowly into shock as every soldier was hit and fell. When he was done, he roared, "YOU COULD'VE SAVED ME A FEW!!" But he laughed a little at this. He then heard something and turned, gasping. "Nobodies?!" he asked, looking at the 5 Dusks and 3 other weird ones that swam along the floor like sharks(forgot their names, sorry). He grinned his smirking grin. "That'll do just fine," he said, and leapt off.

Figment had recovered after shaking his head and saw the white enemies. One shark-like Heartless swam to him and started to leap up. "Oh, no, you don't," said Figment, and reached for a card. He then paled. "Oh, no! I forgot! I used up all my offensive ones!!" he squeaked, then dived from an attack. He grabbed a green card. "Well, let's get this done with," he said, and held it up. "ETHER!!" It disappered and faded across his body in blue sparkles. He then stood for a few seconds, his body glowing, while he reloaded. Once that was done, he ran around and dived from another one, this time sending a pair of attack cards to his opponent. "Alrighty, then! Let's rumble, milkman!"

Meanwhile, Mewtwo was having a ball. He sometimes used the infamous first Reaction Command from KHII, Reversal, just to play around, then launched attacks at the Dusks. A few of the other ones came up, but he struck them down in midair by jumping and spinning about, New Home and Sharpshot cutting them away. He dived down from that in a double stab to the enemy below. He struck ground with no difficulty using New Home, but Sharpshot, with its special ability, went to the ground after going clear through a Dusk's head. As soon as it had hit the Nobody, the highly resiliant creature disappated. Mewtwo grinned and got his Keyblades out again, looking around. "Oh, man, this is so much more fun than Pokémon Battling sometimes!" he squealed in joy, having an absolute blast. He then meeped as he got hit from behind. This only made him happier. "A CHALLENGE!!" He turned and stabbed, missed, then swung vertical at the soaring sharklike thing. The heat of the battle had made him forget entirely his rage and was now focused on fighting off the enemy.

He'd taken care of them all seconds before his Drive ran out. As his body glowed while Elliot's essense began to separate, Mewtwo groaned in disappointment as he once again became Maru for God-knows-how-long. The fun was over, though, and Elliot was frankly glad about that. He really didn't prefer to fight, but if he had to, he would.

Maru sighed and looked around, holding his Keyblade. "Well, that was fun," he said, smiling. Then he remembered and smacked his forehead. "Shit! The fights caused us to miss the others!" he realized, and the other two groaned.

"But what do we do now?" asked Elliot. "Where do we go?"

"Where DO we go?" repeated Maru, looking about.

"Nowhere, that's where," answered a voice.

The party turned around and saw a black-cloaked figure walk towards them. It looked like a female, or a guy with an enormous set of pecs and nothing else, since there was a noticible--not too big--bulge in the front. The form was skinny, and the sleeves of the black trenchcloak (as one of my friends puts it) were actually cut short, revealing slender, graceful arms and black-gloved hands. In fact, the cloak appeared to be different--it billowed more whenever the figure took a step than it should have, as if the material were thinner. The figure stopped and chuckled. It slouched and put a hand on a hip. "Well, well, well," she said, voice definitely female. "The infamous Maru."

Maru gritted his teeth, rage rising again as he remembered the one who stole his powers. "What do you want?" he asked.

She giggled. "I want..." And she took one hand and put back her hood. "...A battle." She grinned at Maru. Her chin was soft in angle, and her blue eyes were mid-set above blush-dusted cheeks. She had a small mouth with blue lipstick on. Her hair was short and straight, forming a sort of slanting helmet sort of thing, colored light pink. She wore no jewelry. "My name is Cardixa," she said, and took a ball from behind her. "And I've been sent to challange you and see what you're made of." She grinned wider. "And we've all agreed, the only way to do this is by the way you know best." She lopped her ball out, and Maru noticed it was entirely clear, although you couldn't see what was inside it. It opened with no flash of light, but the pokémon or whatever inside materialized nonetheless.

What appeared before them was a strange, plant-like, white creature. It stood on four limby legs, and had a straight trunk-like body. It had two branch arms, with three "fingers" of twigs, and its head was a bunch of silver leaves. It was covered in red lines like the trunk of a tree. It had two eyes, white leaves on its head with a few larger silver ones acting as eyebrows. Maru gasped at it. "What IS that? A Nobody?" he asked.

Cardixa grinned. "As much as yours is a Heartless," she answered. She crossed her arms and tilted her head. "C'mon, Maru, you know the rules: Once you're challanged by a trainer, you can't decline...unless you're chicken."

Maru grimaced, but grabbed his ball anyway. "Alright, then...GO!" he called, and tossed it. Out came the pokémon of unknown name and small aura remaining. He caught his ball as Cardixa whistled impressedly.

"Wow, that's a pretty buff Heartless Pokémon y'got there," she commented, looking the dragon-like being up and down. "And pretty eyes. But that ball..." She pointed at it. "You made that, didn't you? They didn't sell those kinds back where you're from, did they?"

Maru shook his head. "It's a story that I don't wish to tell you about," he said.

Cardixa scoffed and flicked a strand of hair back. "Well, I've got to admit, it's ironic for a black ball to become a Light Ball," she commented nonchalantly. She then grinned again. "Well, let's get this started, big shot! The rules are simple, one-on-one battle, and the loser has to fight both the enemy AND their pokémon!!" she stated, and a large flag, not unlike those carried and used by color guards, appeared out of nowhere. It was plain silver and white-streaked down the center. She caught it and twirled it expertly onto her shoulder.

Maru spun his Keyblade around his hand, causing Cardixa to laugh at his ineptness with his hands. "Well, let's get this battle going, shall we?" he asked. His pokémon growled to add onto that.

Cardixa grinned. "Alright, then, but don't cry if your pokémon DISAPPEARS!!" she squealed maniacally.


	11. 08: Hell's Bells

'I haven't been in a battle,' thought Mewtwo, 'since New Island...' He gripped Sharpshot. "Who goes first?"

"The challanged," said Cardixa, grinning.

Maru nodded. 'This will be difficult, since I don't know what attacks my pokémon exactly uses...And he's pretty tired already from the battles before. Here's hopin'...' He pointed his Keyblade. "Start off with Dragon Claw!!" he ordered.

His pokémon roared with a bit more vehemence this time and began to charge, reeling back his arm. It appeared rage blistered his face.

"Exexitt, dodge it and use Magical Leaf!" Cardixa countered, pointing with her free hand.

Exexitt, as the pokémon was called, leapt out of the way, pumping its four legs and flying up. It made no sound, and Maru noticed that some white leaves on its head on the side formed a strange symbol. As it seemed to hover, it whipped its head at Maru's pokémon and sent multicolored leaves at him. Maru wondered if Cardixa knew it wouldn't do much damage. The 100-chance-hit attack struck, and the trainer was shocked to find his Heartless propelled back quite a ways before skidding. Maru growled. 'Oh, great, either that thing's got a great Sp. Attack, or we've got a lousy Sp. Defense...'

Exexitt landed in front of Cardixa, then stood still as a bone, waiting the next order. Maru's pokémon sprang up immediately, though, seriously pissed off. But while he did, Cardixa ordered, "Exexitt! Take Down!!" The Nobody Pokémon zoomed forward towards Maru's pokémon.

"Low Kick!" he was ordered, so he tried.

"Jump and use Vine Whip instead!!"

Exexitt dodged Maru's pokémon's kick and sprang up, soaring high. Before it could do anything, Maru quickly strategized. "Grab it!"

Far ahead as it was, Cardixa hadn't, apparantly, realized that the long arms on Maru's Heartless Pokémon were, indeed, LONG. He grabbed it easilly and squeezed it with all its strength that the slate-colored forearms and black paws could give, a look of burning hatred in its eyes.

"Now throw it down and use Slam!!" continued Maru. His pokémon executed the combination, ruthlessly slamming the creature down (causing a few stones to crumble around it) and then jumping and spinning a bit vertically. It spun and whipped its long, spikey tail, spike side down, right onto the Nobody. As it did so, it let out a fantastic roar that echoed from the Court of Miracles' walls.

When it was done, it landed on its feet and retreived its tail, looking with hatred at its opponent. Maru looked up at his fighter. 'I know Heartless and Nobodies are sworn enemies, but...I didn't really know that it spread to pokémon, as well...' He looked around the creature and saw Exexitt was slowly getting up, one white eye shut.

Cardixa grimaced at this, but then she grinned. "Ooooh, you're in for a WONDERFUL surprise, big shot!" she called, and pointed her finger gun-style at Maru's dragon-esque fighter.

Right as she did, both paws exploded in white light, causing the poor thing to roar in pain and stumble back a bit. Its palms were smoking after the explosion. Maru gaped. "What did you do?!" he demanded.

Cardixa laughed. "Oh, just Exexitt's special ability," she said as if it were nothing. She grinned and spun her flag once around. "It's called Thorn Spore. If a pokémon grabs it, no matter what, a few seconds later they'll be hurt by an explosion on the areas it touched them when grabbing them!" She laughed jovially. "Remember, every rose has its thorns!!"

Maru grimiced. 'It didn't look like it did too much, but I'd better be careful,' he thought, looking up at his poor teammate, who was looking with--and proving it's possible--even MORE hatred at Exexitt. Suddenly, Cardixa's eyes glinted. "WHAT?!" Maru stood in surprise as a red aura wrapped itself around his pokémon. "Hyper Mode AGAIN?! But I never even used Shadow Rush yet!!"

He cursed his mouth while his pokémon, enraged, gladly charged with an earth-shaking roar at Exexitt. Cardixa grinned and simply said, "Sinister Sundown."

Immediately, Exexitt disappeared. Cardixa dodged as the Heartless Pokémon bowled past, then skidded to a halt as he realized he missed. He looked wildly around, then roared in agony as, suddenly, a rain of silver-white energy bullets hailed from the air around him. Then one big one struck him from behind, sending the poor guy flying away. He landed with a skidding halt in front of Maru. Behind him, Exexitt landed neatly in front of Cardixa, who grinned. "That's an attack unique to Nobody Pokémon," she explained with a dark tone. "It's super-effective on Heartless." She grinned wildly, and Maru wanted to wipe it off her face.

He instead, however, looked at his pokémon. "Hey! Are you alright?" he asked, running to him and putting a hand on him. His face was screwed up in pain, and he was breathing hard. Maru felt his heart beating faint in his proudly bulging chest, and looked very worried. He was a pokémon, Heartless or not, and he knew that. He cared for him, and didn't want him to be hurt. Nor did he want to lose. "C'mon! Are you just going to let that thing DO that to you?" he asked, resting his hand on his pokémon's chest. "You can't let a Nobody defeat you! That's worse than anything, since you'd be defeated by absolutly NOTHING!!"

Still, his eyes remained shut.

Cardixa grinned. "I think it's unable to battle," she said, and took one step.

At those words, it was like something clicked. The pokémon's eyes shot open, and his red aura wavered. Maru grinned. "Let's GO!!" he cried, and the aura snapped--leaving a black aura so faint, it was almost non-existent. Slowly, his pokémon got up to his feet. Looked down at the around 4' 0" Nobody. And, instead of roaring, merely whispered one thing:

"Terroge."

Maru gasped, then smiled slowly, glad he finally knew it. "Terroge..." he repeated slowly. He grinned and clenched his fist, Ash-style. "Alright!! TERROGE!!" he shouted.

"TERR!"

He pointed. "MEGA KICK!!"

Terroge grinned evilly and charged. "ROGE!!" It was as if it had gained a speed boost, from adrenaline, no doubt. Its right foot, enormous in size and connected to a frighteningly huge leg, glowed bright as it prepped it.

Cardixa grimiced. "Second wind, eh? EXEXITT!! DODGE IT AND USE SINISTER SUNDOWN!!"

The pokémon disappeared. But Maru was smart this time. "BEHIND YOU!" he cried, and Terroge turned immediately, skidding. Exexitt appeared immediately before him in midair, and as Cardixa watched in horror, Terroge, using the force of his spin, swung his foot around. "TEEERRRRR--"

Exexitt sweatdropped, Cardixa gasped, and Maru smirked.

"--OOOOUUUUUGE!!" BRRAMM!! The hit connected and Exexitt sailed to the ground, slamming into the corner of the gallows and the floor. It crashed the front of the gallows, causing some dust to appear. When it cleared, the white eyes were silver.

And it disappeared.

Maru reared back in shock at what he'd done. "WHAT THE--?!"

Cardixa gaped, then growled. "RrrrRRRR!! NOOO!! We HAD you!!" she complained loudly, throwing her flag to the ground with a metallic ringing clatter. She fumed at Maru. "YOU just got LUCKY!!" she said, pointing at him.

Maru frowned. "Why did Exexitt disappear? What happened?" he demanded to know.

Cardixa huffed and batted a peice of hair back. "Like I'M telling YOU," she said daintilly, then picked up her flag. "But the fight's not over yet!" she cried, and ran to Maru. Waving the flag as she went, just like a good color guard.

Maru grinned. "Okay, then," he said, and pointed. "Terroge! Spin and sweep with your tail!" he ordered. "And keep an arm out in front of you!" he added.

Terroge did so, barely having space to. As expected, Cardixa jumped the tail, but as unexpected, she instead grabbed the arm which had been set out to slam her if she jumped. She rode it and used it to launch towards Maru. The two met in a clash. Maru shoved her off and rolled away. "Nice try, but you're going down if you like it or not!" she roared, and began to spin with her flag, twirling it around. "Here goes!" Before Maru reached her to strike, she crouched and spun, flag skimming the floor. From it, a wave of energy shot out and raced to Maru.

Maru gritted his teeth and attempted to jump. The wave reached higher, though, and struck him on the foot. "YEAARGH!!" he cried, falling back down. He heard cries from his teammates as they were struck as well. He almost landed when another wave came. A third one finally ended the juggle before he landed on his back, overcome by the combo. "I can't believe I fell for that!" he exclaimed, then leapt up, panting. 'That did a LOT of damage...a few more and I'm out!'

Cardixa grinned and stopped the spin. "I may look like I'm a sissy girl, but have YOU ever been whacked by one of these?" [I almost was clotheslined by one at show band practice once my first year! She spun her flag around and charged at Maru, then swung it. He blocked it, then the next strike, then, when Cardixa spun to deliver a powerful, guard-breaking blow, he quickly reached and stabbed.

Sharpshot hit its mark, going right into her chest. She gagged, then stopped, stumbling backwards. She panted as she looked at the weapon, holding her chest. "Heh...that thing's kinda pointy," she said, then grinned. "Well, then, I think I've evaluated you enough. I'll go back and tell the Organization what I've discovered," she told him, then began to disappear in a shadow.

Maru gasped and raced forward. "'Organization?' What do you mean?" he demanded. But she was gone. He stopped on the spot she left on and looked down. "Organization XIII was destroyed by Sora," he mumbled. "...Or was it?"

"THAT WAS AWESOME!!" Figment cheered, running to Maru, grinning like a kid who just saw a really cool movie. "That battle, I mean, between your black thing and her white thing!"

Maru smirked. "You mean between her Exexitt..." He looked up proudly at the pokémon staring expectantly down back at him. "...and my Terroge." He grinned and walked over. "Terroge! You did a fantastic job!!"

"ROGE! TER-ROGE!" he returned, clenching his fists. Maru wasn't pleased to find that that was exactly what he said. He looked worried at this as he held up the ball. 'Light Ball...Makes sense...' Maru then smiled and said, "Terroge, you did great. I think that you deserve a good rest. Return." The white beam shot out and took Terroge back into his ball.

Elliot came forward, worried look on his face. "Are you...Are you sure that they don't mind being forced to fight?" he asked Maru. "I mean, you're not...bening cruel to them, are you?"

Maru stood still for a moment. Still and silent. Elliot wondered if he'd said the wrong thing, when Maru replied, "It depends on how you're having them fight. It you have them battle, is the term we use, in a friendly competition, they usually don't mind, unless they dislike battling. In a life-or-death situation, though, and others, it depends greatly. If it's life-or-death because of something that doesn't sit right with them, of if it's against someone they really don't want to battle, they don't like it. Normally they understand that they have to do it and do it, although they don't like it. You see, it's against a pokémon's nature to outright kill another pokémon, even if they're natural enemies, such as Zangoose and Seviper." He looked away. "If the pokémon is forced to battle and is used as a slave, then it's cruel. If they're punished for doing bad, or if they're treated as useless if they faint, it's cruel." His fist was starting to shake. "But...should they be treated kindly, and used rightly, and their hearts become one with their trainers...then battling is a fact of life that they encounter regardless of whatever happens. The truth of the matter is," he concluded, looking up at Elliot with a deep gaze, "each pokémon is no less an individual as you or I. They have different natures as much as we do, they have different likes and dislikes, and they have different amounts of intellegence and wisdom. It's just like if you forced a normal person to fight for you." He sighed and looked at the ball in his hand. "How you treat them is what decides how they take battling and, more importantly, how they think of you."

Elliot cocked his head. "I...uh, got a bit lost, but I think I get it," he chuckled nervously, grinning sheepishly.

Maru sighed and smiled a small smile, shaking his head and putting the Light Ball back onto his belt. "That's alright, I'm sorry I may have confused you," he said, "but it's a difficult question sometimes." He sighed and stood a moment. "Well, let's get going," he said, looking up and starting to move forward. "We've got to save Quasimodo, Phoebus, and Esmerelda before it's too late." He dashed out the way that Frollo had entered.

The other two nodded and ran after him. Figment then remembered something. "But Maru, Esmerelda had a good point, we still haven't searched around here, yet," he pointed out.

Maru nodded, not looking back. "But I'm more concerned about them than I am about the Keyhole," he replied. "We don't have any more time to waste! We've got to save them!"

Figment and Elliot turned to each other and smiled, then ran with him.

- - -

"C'mon, Quasi! You're not gonna just give up, now, are you? Snap out of it!" said Hugo, looking at the hunchback with some worry. He was busy with the other two tugging at the chains.

"Your friends are down there!" Victor pleaded.

Quasimodo was on the center bridge between the towers of Notre Dame, chained to multiple pillars with large-linked cords of iron. He was standing there, amid stone and iron, unable to move at all that much. "It's all my fault," he wearilly said, looking down below as he watched Frollo give Esmerelda one last choice: Him or the fire. He made no facial movement as she spat in his "master's" face.

"Ya gotta break these chains!" insisted Laverne, shaking his share.

"I can't; I tried. What difference would it make?" returned Quasimodo, looking at them, then back down.

Victor looked over in distress. "You can't let Frollo win!" he insisted.

Quasimodo shook his head. "He already has," he mumbled.

"Quasi?" Hugo dropped his chain and hopped over. "Does this mean you're givin' UP?! That's it?" he asked, sisscoring his arms across his chisled manboobs.

Laverne came over and shook a chain. "These chains aren't what's holding you back, Quasimodo," he tried to say, but Quasi just said, "Leave me alone."

Stunned, the three gargoyles stared at him. He stared back, face full of hopelessness and pain.

"Okay..." Hugo said, hurt, hopping to an edge, "Okay, Quasi, we'll leave you alone..." With a pained expression, he faced out and solidified.

"After all, we're only made of stone," Victor pointed out, doing the same.

"We just thought you were made of something stronger." Laverne turned still as well as he left his words for him.

Quasimodo looked down still. Then he heard Frollo speaking below. Slowly, he looked up, then walked forward, chains chingling behind him as he looked down and out at the scene below.

"...And for that, she will burn," he breathed with finality, and set the torch down to the hay around Esmerelda, who was tied to a stake. Immediately, it began to burn away. She coughed as the smoke started to rise.

"NNNOOOOOOOO!!" cried Quasimodo, and with a rush of determination, pulled as hard as he could on the chains. The pillars began to rumble. The bells clanged a bit as the entire cathedral began to shake. Quasi stopped a bit and started again, trying harder--and finally first one arm, then the other broke free, and pillars above him crumbled and broke. He stood there, panting, chains sliding off. Then, with a face of vehemence, grabbed a rope nearby and ran to the edge of the platform, throwing the rope around a gargoyle head and leaping down, using it as a belay as he swung to the other corner of the cathedral. There he stopped and glared down at the scene below. Then, with vehemence in every step, he ran across the wall and leapt down, sliding some rope so that he dropped a bit while he swung out.

The crowd watched below, making sounds of uncertainty, as if something before them was unstable and might fall, but might not. Then, he finally reached the wooden stage, and the crowd cheered.

Maru got there then, smirking as he saw the display.

Quickly, Quasi untied Esmerelda by removing the rope entirely, then put her on his shoulder as he saw guards climb up on stage and try and get him. Seeing this, he took the burning stake with his free arm and swung it, knocking the three of them off. He then turned and grabbed the rope swinging back to him, and finally jumped off the platform, carrying Esmerelda.

"Quasimodo!!" seethed Frollo as he watched this.

The crowd cheered as Quasimodo hit the side of Notre Dame and began to climb up it, hurriedly and hard with one arm. It looked like it took an age, freeform-climbing the wall with a burden, but he didn't mind it at all. Reaching a balcony, he looked back, leaped up onto the railing and ran on it before hopping to the actual balcony, running to the center, and holding up Esmerelda's unconcious body in both arms, Zelda style.

"SANC-TUARYYYY!!" he cried. The crowd cheered. This was done a total of three times. He then rushed inside with Esmerelda.

Below, Frollo turned to the new captain. "Captain!"

"Yes, sir!" he saluted.

"Seize the cathedral!"

Meanwhile within, Quasimodo set to work. He went down into a chamber where a boiling hot pot of molten lead sat warming. He grabbed an enormous beam and then tilted it over the edge of the cathedral. It flew down and scared off a bunch of guards, smashing a carriage.

Frollo looked in rage at this, then at the guards. "Come BACK, you cowards!" he ordered, stomping over to the stairs. He saw a guard and grabbed his sword. "You men, take that beam," he ordered, pointing at some men below. "Use it to break into the cathedral."

The men rushed and left a cage containing Phoebus alone with one guard, whom he strangle-held with one arm. "Alone at last," he joked, and whacked him on the head. He grabbed his keys as he fell. The soldiers got to work ramming the door. Jumping up on top his cage, though, with a spear in hand, Phoebus yelled, "Citizens of Paris! Frollo has persecuted our people! RANSACKED our city!!" The crowd booed and roared. "Now!" he said, switching hands with the spear, and pointed it at the cathedral. "He has declared war on Notre Dame herself!!"

To emphisize this, the soldiers rammed at the door again.

Holding up his spear in both hands like a tribal cheif declaring war, he demanded, "WILL WE ALLOW IT?!"

That was the last straw to burn. The citizens of Paris roared out and ran forward, now ready for war themselves. They cut the locks away on the other carriage-cages holding the gypsies prisoner. With more reinforcements, the crowd began to bum-rush at the head of the fight.

Maru grinned and passed by Phoebus. "No surprise a Captain knows how to rally his troops!" he commented to him.

Phoebus grinned back and leapt down. "Yeah, and what great timing for you big guns to arrive; looks like the judge's sunk lower than we thought," he added, pointing to the fore of the battle.

Maru let out a genuine "WOAH!" as he saw a SWARM of Heartless appear between the cathedral and the people. They, oddly, went only for the people, but not the soldiers. Maru looked over at Frollo, who was smiling darkly. He scowled. "I see." He rushed forward, drawing the Keyblade, and charged to battle. His comrades chased after him, ready for another fight.

Maru knew the fight wouldn't last long, down there, though, but he had to stay at least for a while. His prime goal was to reach Quasimodo and protect him if Frollo does end up reaching him.

The Shadows were useless, and even the enboldened townsfolk--even more enraged when they discovered Frollo had been siding with these beasts the whole time--beat them down with ease. But, despite how difficult a time they had with advanced foes like Large Bodies, Maru realized, soon, that their hearts were ON FIRE, as much as their city and as much as the scene around them. He grinned. "They're too hot to handle!!" he commented, then relaxed, focusing on a way in.

A rope came down, and he looked up to see, if his eyes weren't playing tricks on him, a gargoyle waving down. He raised an eyebrow but grabbed the rope and began to climb. The other two almost followed, but after an ominous creaking when Elliot tried to get on, Maru said, "No! I have to go up here myself! You guys handle the fighting below for now!!"

They nodded and hopped down, Elliot landing on some Heartless and making some people laugh.

Phoebus looked as that happened, impressed. "And I thought Achillies could sit!" he laughed, then got back to his soldiers. [Achillies is the name of his horse.

When Maru reached the top, fighting off flying Heartless sent as reinforcements for the invasion, he climbed over the balcony and looked at the gargoyles who had turned solid. He raised an eyebrow in a smile, then ran to Quasimodo. "Quasimodo!" he cried.

Quasimodo grinned as looked at him coming. "Maru! You survived!" he cried, then got back to his work.

Maru grinned, seeing Quasimodo was busy preparing the hot lead. "Yes," he confirmed, not noticing a swarm of birds now attacking soldiers and Heartless down below(with Peck, of course), "I think it is too soon for me to fade away just yet."

Quasi nodded and heaved his load. "I've got this," he strained, "you go and check up on Esmerelda!"

Maru nodded and ran off. He found her in the room Quasi had left her in, and she was still there. Maru nodded and then left the room. He decided to guard it. He almost missed the spectacle of the hot lead falling down and causing the villagers to scatter. He hoped that his teammates would be okay, what with Elliot's slow speed. "But hey," he shrugged, "at least we don't have to worry about the Heartless down there." Thousands of hearts shot up from it and he laughed and clapped his hands as the black beasts got utterly pwned.

Then, to his surprise, a few Heartless appeared beside him. "What the--!" He wasted no time, and started to fight them. He got farther and farther away as he chased the gradually-retreating Heartless. He couldn't leave them be, but he knew they were trying to lead him away--why?!

- - -

Frollo stormed up the stairs, hoping the Heartless were doing their job. He emerged out into the hot, firey air of the hellish scene below. He looked and saw that, indeed, where he suspeced the hunchback was. He smiled and walked inside, sword sheathed.

Quasimodo held Esmerelda, weeping. Quietly, Frollo, holding a dagger behind his back, came and put a hand on his hunched back. "You killed her!" whimpered Quasimodo.

"It was my duty," justified Frollo calmly. He looked away. "Horrible as it was, I hope you can forgive me." Quasimodo sniffed, heartbroken. "There, there, Quasimodo," said Frollo, sounding comforting, as he turned back to him. "I know it hurts, but now is the time to end your suffering..." He raised his dagger.

Quasimodo held her hand, but then realized what Frollo meant. He looked up at the shadow on the wall of the man about to stab him.

"...forever."

With a gasp, Quasimodo turned and saw what he thought he did: Frollo with a dagger raised to kill him. But as he plunged it down to kill him, Quasimodo grabbed the dagger arm and wrestled with his former master. With one great heave, he shoved Frollo all the way to the wall, grabbing his dagger as he did. Frollo landed and sat up quickly, looking up as Quasimodo came at him, looking very angry, dagger raised in HIS arm now. "No-now," he cowered, waving a hand, "listen to me, Quasimodo--"

"NO! YOU listen to me!" cried Quasimodo, sounding like a crying, defiant kid, pointing at him. "All my life you have told me the world is a dark, cruel place," he said, shaking both fists to emphisize it. He looked at the dagger in his hand and threw it down. "But now I see the only thing dark and cruel about it is people like you!" He pointed at his old master, who was cowering in fear from the strong man before him.

"Quasimodo..."

Quasi turned and ran over to the bed. "Esmerelda!" he said, taking her in his arms.

"She lives..." breathed Frollo, drawing his sword.

"NO!!" cried Quasimodo. Quickly, he darted out past his former master. He ran out and quickly hid. When Frollo darted out, holding his sword, he saw nothing but an empty pathway before him. He looked around, sneaked around to a corner, then jumped out, but saw only nothing, yet again. Suspicious, he inched to a balcony wall, then quickly leaned over and saw Quasi hanging onto a gargoyle with Esmerelda.

A wicked smile on his face, Frollo asked, "Leaving so soon?" He raised his sword.

"Hang on!!" cried Quasimodo, and he first swung once to dodge, then swung over to dodge another blow. It was hard, but he kept it up and eventually made it so that he was on the balcony again. On the way, Frollo sliced into a gargoyle so hard, it cut into it quite considerably. Another sword blow tried to come again, but he pushed Esmerelda out of the way in time and crawled up to the gargoyle.

"I should have KNOWN you'd risk your life to save that gypsy witch!" sneered Frollo. He looked up at Quasimodo on the gargoyle. "Just as you own mother died trying to save you," he finally confessed.

Quasimodo stood dumbstruck. "...What?..." he whispered.

"And now," continued Frollo, serruptitiously getting his cloak, "I'm going to do what I should have done...twenty years AGO!!" He flew his cloak out to Quasimodo.

But it didn't catch around him; instead, it caught nothing but air as a blue aura surrounded it. "What?!" Frollo turned and saw Maru standing there, Keyblade in hand and holding out the other, which was, like his eyes, glowing light blue.

"Not this time, 'Your Honor,'" Maru said dangerously calmly. He strode over and cut his arm. The cape nearly tore itself off of Frollo's shoulders, it whipped so hard. Frollo himself looked frightend at the purple-haired man coming towards him. "I've always hated you, and I've always wanted to do this," he said, twirling his Keyblade.

Which he'd set back to the normal, bronze Kingdom Key.

Frollo growled and held his sword tightly. "So, key boy, you wish to challange me?" he asked, still able to act calm.

Maru scowled. "You're not even WORTH a challange," he said darkly. He pointed at him. "You, old man, are nothing more but an opportunistic coward who can't fight, and one who can't play fair, despite his position as judge!"

Frollo scowled. "We'll see about that," he said, and dashed forward.

This was a much more relaxing battle than before, in Maru's opinion. He had equipped Kingdom Key because of the fact that he wanted no unfair, abnormal advantages, such as the fact Sharpshot gave extra damage when he stabbed the head or chest. The first sword swing was a clash, and Maru threw him off. He launched a quick combo, knocking the old man back. He then launched his own attacks, but Maru either blocked or dodged them all. Truth be told, Kingdom Key or not, Maru had an unfair advantage, and he was being absolutely ruthless. He was taking out all his hate and rage against this old man. In only a couple of minutes, he'd smacked him across the face, knocked him down...and he lay still. Maru scowled at him, then sighed in releif as he dismissed the Keyblade.

"Maru!" Esmerelda cried as he walked over to her. She hugged him breifly, causing him to blush bright red. "Thank you! Thank you...so..." She slowed, then gasped and pointed. "LOOK OUT!!"

"What?!" Maru spun, but couldn't evade or catch the brick being thrown at his face in time. He got bricked hard, falling down with a cry of pain to the stone below.

Wheezing a little, Frollo laughed menacingly as he got back to Quasimodo, who was still standing on the gargoyle. "Now, where was I?" he asked, and again flew his cape out.

It entangled Quasimodo, and Frollo tugged him down. He swung, though, holding onto the cape, and stopped as he grabbed the wall. He pulled Frollo down, making him hang, on accident, though, since he really didn't want to KILL him, just stop him. He looked in horror as he began to slip.

"Quasimodo!" Esmerelda cried, and raced over and grabbed his arm. Below, Frollo saw a gargoyle and swung over to grab it. Esmerelda was focused on Quasi, who was growing faint from the fumes of the battle fires below. "Hold on...hold on..." she whispered.

Meanwhile, Frollo ditched the cloak, removing it completely, and hung off the gargoyle. He climbed up, laughing evilly as Esmerelda gazed in horror. He raised his sword above his head and shouted, "And He shall smite the wicked and plunge them into the firey pit!"

Suddenly, the stone gargoyle, the one he'd cut into before, started to break off at the cut already made into it. Slipping and dropping his sword, Frollo fell and grabbed onto the gargoyle. Then, almost like a flicker of the imagination, it appeared to come alive, smiling wickedly at him.

"NNNOO--NNNNNOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOoooooooooooo...!" cried Frollo as he saw this in horror, and the stone broke off, therefore following the pseudo-Biblical passage he'd spoken before. He fell...fell...fell...and finally landed in the molten lead below, the statue still smiling evilly at him.

But Esmerelda wasn't concerned with this. She wanted to keep Quasimodo from following the same fate. "Quasimodo...Quasi..." she said, him slipping from her grip. He slipped away and fell, and Esmerelda shouted, "NOOOOO!!" as he did.

But then Phoebus caught him...well, almost. "NNGH!!" he grunted, about to fall as well, since he'd leaned out just a smidgen too far. He was going when suddenly, a blue aura surrounded him. He was lifted up, and upon gazing high, or to the left, he and Esmerelda saw that Maru was back up, and was helping with his weak telekinesis. He strained, then released, panting as he made sure the two were safe. He smirked over at Esmerelda, then stood up. "I'm alright," he said, "just got a little headache now..."

Esmerelda smiled, then rushed off. Maru followed after a moment. When he got there, he saw her and Phoebus in the cool shade of the arches, holding hands while Quasimodo, smiling, held them together. Maru and Quasi then watched, Quasi going away a bit, as the two kissed and hugged passionately. He smiled a little.

"Gag me with a spoon," whispered a voice behind him, and he turned and saw Figment come up, making the gross-out motion, while Elliot waddled close behind, smiling and shaking his head, looking up at his childishness. Maru couldn't help smiling at that.

The two lovebirds later crashed open the door of Notre Dame to a (strangly lead-free) cheering crowd below. He raised his arms up, still holding Esmerelda. Maru and company shyly came out, and the crowd cheered for them, too. Then, Esmerelda pecked her soon-to-be husband on the cheek and turned back. Maru smiled and followed. She held her hand out to Quasi, who was in the dark still. He was unsure, but when Maru offered his and gave a genuinely friendly smile, he shyly took them. He let himself be led out into the light. At first, he was blinded, Maru letting go as he sheilded himself from the light with that hand. The crowd looked amazed at him.

At first, nobody was sure what to do, but one little girl came up and stood in front of him. He shied away, but she gently took his face, then brought him back down as she felt his features. Finally, Quasimodo smiled and hugged her.

"THREE CHEERS FOR QUASIMODO!!" cried Clopin from a flagpole.

The crowd cheered and praised Quasimodo for his heroism, and in fact carried him off as he pumped his fists up in victory. Maru smiled happilly with Esmerelda and Phoebus as they watched him go off. "At last, he finally found where he belongs," he said softly.

The others agreed. Then Esmerelda turned to face Maru. "THANK you so much, Maru," she said, going over and smiling at him. "If it weren't for you, we might not have seen this happen, what with those creatures."

Maru smiled. Then he gasped. "I completely forgot!!" he cried.

Esmerelda smiled and giggled. "Yep, there's a little secret in the Court of Miracles that's known only to few," she said, holding up a finger. "I think it might just be what you're looking for."

Maru raised his eyebrows, then looked at his comrades.

Esmerelda led them to the Court of Miracles, which was populated by people again. Maru secretly set up another green disk nearby since he sensed it to be a place that was free of trouble now. Some of the gypsies thanked him, and some just talked idly. Esmerelda led them down some pathways. Finally, they reached a dank room that wasn't very extravagant, but had a few colored scarves here and there. "We're right underneath Notre Dame," explained Esmerelda. "We don't know why this thing's here, but it might be what you need." She walked over to the only actually worked stone wall, and removed a few scarves on it.

Maru gasped. An intricate, beautifully ornate Keyhole gazed back at him. He grinned as he felt the energies flow from it. He nodded to his allies, then stood and spun the now-back-to-Sharpshot Keyblade around before pointing it forward. The light formed at the bit, then shot right out again and into the Keyhole. A flash of light blinded them, and the Keyhole's hole was now nothing but smooth stone. Maru smirked, his work done, and lowered his Keyblade.

Esmerelda gasped at this, then smiled at Maru. "You're quite the interesting one, aren't you?" she asked, smiling.

Maru grinned. "You have no idea," he replied.

Esmerelda raised an eyebrow, then ruffled in her dress. "You know, I picked this thing up a while back," she said, and brought out, dumbstriking Maru, a red cd. "I dunno what it is, but I think you should have it," she said, and gave it to Maru. "You probably know more about it than I do."

Maru took it carefully, then looked it over. 'Oh, my God, no doubt about it,' he thought. 'This is a bona-fide TM!!' Maru smiled and put it in his pocket. "Thank you. I do, in fact, know what this is. It's actually from where I come from. I'll take care of it," he promised. He turned to leave. "You take care, too," he said, smiling and holding a hand up to wave goodbye. "We've got to go now."

Esmerelda smiled and waved back. "And you guys come back now, okay?" she called, and the others agreed and waved goodbye.

*****OBTAINED SM1*****

[HOLY SHIT, THIS WAS A HUGE CHAPTER!!! FAINTS]

"UUuuuhhhhnn..." A young black-haired boy slowly opened his eyes, feeling totally wiped. He saw he was on a bed in a shack somewhere. He heard the ocean nearby. He blinked a few times, trying to remember what happened. Suddenly, his eyes shot wide open and he sat up straight. "PIKACHU!!" Ash Ketcham cried, and he threw off the covers. He found his shoes, socks, vest, hat, and trusty backpack, then raced out the door. "PIKA--huh?" He stopped as he saw a beach. To his right was a green area with a pool of water. He blinked. "What...where...where am I?" he asked nobody confused.

"EEY!! WATCH OUT!!" cried out a sort of Jamaican-accented voice.

"Huh?" Ash turned to look, finally focusing on finer details, and found a ball come up and kiss his face. "YOW!!" He fell back a little from the force and stumbled back to the wall of the shack, holding his face.

"Heheheh! I told ya to watch out!" said the voice again. Ash opened his eyes and looked down at the beach. A boy with hair that looked sort of like the tip of a soft serve, with the spiral lick, stood grinning at him. "Welcome to the Destiny Islands!" he greeted, holding his ball.

- - -

(Sorry for Wakka's horrid description; I forgot how he looks from playing KHI all those years ago. But even MORE sorry for the HUGE HoND chapter!! ;; Sorry!!)


	12. 09: Okay, Let's Take 5!

**Bit 9: (Interlude)**

Maru got back onto the ship and slumped down into the pilot's seat with a "FWOOOH!". He felt dog-tired, but excited at the same time. He looked at the red disk in his hand. He brought out a device that he kept on him just for kicks, although now it might help. It was a TM identifier. A little thin rectangle with a cut in the middle, it simply scanned the disc and said what was in it. He used it. It read: "Ember."

Maru looked and raised an eyebrow. "I wonder if I can learn it..." he mumbled, then thought a second. "HOW do I learn it?!" he wondered. He thought for a moment, then considered it. He nodded, then levitated the light disk. He spun it easilly, as it was so very light. He then scanned it with his mind. Instantly, 0's and 1's filled his mind, then the knowledge of the move. Finally, the disk broke, turning black and crackling with electricity, when it was done. He put the disk down and smiled. 'Mewtwo learned Ember,' he mused, chuckling.

"Maru? What did you do?" asked Figment, leaning over and looking at the disk. He picked it up and looked at it closer. "I think you broke it."

"TMs, or Technical Machines, break after each use," he explained. "They're used to teach Pokémon moves. I guess I'm able to, too!" He laughed, hoping he wasn't letting on too much.

Figment grinned and gave the disk back. "Well, where to, next?" he asked.

Maru thought for a moment. "Well, it looks like we can go back to some places, but...well, aren't there any more places to go?" he wondered.

"YES, in fact!" said Navi testilly, rising out of his collar. She held the letter in her hands, although it was really like a peice of paper being held by a ball of light. She dropped it down in Maru's lap. "The Tournament is already underway!!" she nagged annoyingly.

Maru paled. "Oh, CRAP! Yeah, that's where," he said, grimicing worriedly. "But how do we GET there?!" he asked.

"Well," Chip said, walking over across the dashboard, "if you install a better Navi-Gummi, we'll gain more access to more worlds."

Maru frowned. "But what does a Navi-Gummi look like?" he asked, crossing his arms to think.

Navi tilted, then flew to the letter. She peeked into it and then flew in. She came back out with a lump of something tutti-frutti-colored. "Could this be it?" she asked. She dropped it in front of Chip and Dale.

They looked at it, then nodded. "Yep!" Dale said.

"But..." Chip blushed. "We don't know how to install them."

Maru sighed aggrivatedly. "Well, who does?" he asked, teeth gritted.

"Cid, the machinist!" Dale answered. "He's at Radient Garden."

Maru nodded. "Alright, we'll go there and get it installed," he decided, and set the autopilot on.

**Bit 9: Radient Garden Pit Stop**

They entered through the entry disk set up in Merlin's House. He greeted them as they appeared in a small flash of light. "Well, hello, everyone!" he called, waving. He was currently reading a book on his bed. "How goes the journey?"

Maru smiled. "We've sucessfully sealed a Keyhole, were unable to currently find another, and...well, I kind of..." he trailed off.

Merlin frowned. "Yes, what?" he asked.

Maru sighed. "A world became distorted because I barely locked it in time before it was completely stolen by the Heartless," he explained. "It was once Mach Paradise, and is now known as Mach Purgatory." He looked down in shame. "It was the first world we visited, and I haven't a clue how we got there so late."

Merlin sighed. "Don't you worry, Maru," he said. "It'll be restored, I'm sure. There just are some parts missing. What they are, I bet you'll have to see, since I don't know exactly how all THAT works." He smiled. "But relax! You'll find the one in the world you missed, and you sealed two of them! Be proud!"

Maru smiled weakly. "Thank you." He walked out, almost, until he remembered. "Do you know where Cid is?" he asked.

"Oh, he's in the castle in the computer room," Merlin answered.

"Thank you," Maru repeated, and walked out with everyone else.

Before they went to Cid, Figment suggested getting rid of all the excess weight that their cash was making. So, they headed to a few shops separately. Maru went to a plain Items shop and purchased a few potions, ethers, etc.. He also saw an accessory shop, and decided to go there to see what the deal there was. "Accessory Shop, eh?" he asked.

Dewy, one of Donald's nephews owning the shop, nodded. "Yep! You wear 'em like jewelry and stuff and they help you do stuff better!" he explained in short. He held up an AP Ring. "Like this thing helps you be able to handle using more fun stuff when you're fighting," he examplified.

Maru nodded. He then wondered something. "Could you analyze accessories that people pick up and see if they do anything?" he asked.

Dewy nodded. "Yup! Got a special thing for that back here," he said, thumbing back.

Maru reached into his pocket and brought out Quasi's wire braid. "Could you see what this does, if anything?" he asked.

Dewy nodded. "Certainly!" He hopped off his stool and went back. A few moments later, he jumped back up and gave it back. "It's a good-luck charm! In terms of fighting, it helps increase the odds of doing a lot more damage than normal on a single hit!" he explained.

Maru nodded and put it away. "Thanks." He browsed a bit, then said goodbye and went away. He found his teammates later, and had found they had spent their fair share. Both had upgraded their weapons. Elliot's armor was different and now covered some of his tail, and Figment had a new deck of cards. They were still the same types of cards, but they looked different. "They're supposed to hurt more," he explained, pulling one out. The deck appeared to be a normal deck of cards, but there were different symbols depending on what spell or item was contained within. Normal attack cards were normal everyday cards, with hearts, spades, clubs, and diamonds.

Now ready, the group went and entered the castle. They went around a bit until finding the computer room. Cid was busilly typing on the computer, not looking that happy. "Aw, great! This thing is officially BUSTED!" he said, slamming his hands on the keyboard.

Maru tilted his head. "How can you tell?" he asked, then walked over and saw a completely frozen screen. "Ah."

Cid turned and looked at them. "Oh, you guys," he said. "What's up? It'd better be good, 'cuz I'm supposed to be fixing this thing," he grumbled.

Maru dug in his pocket and pulled the Navi-Gummi out. "We hear you can install Navi-Gummies onto Gummi ships?"

Cid looked at it, then nodded. "Yep. But I ain't doin' nothin' 'til this thing's fixed," he grumped, turning back and hitting the restart button. He cursed after a moment. "Aw, not even THAT works?!"

Maru sighed and shoved him out of the chair. "Let me handle this," he said, nonplussed, as the two dragons stood in shock at his actions. He sat down and first used his powers to simply turn off and then on again the computer. Then, after it rebooted, he set to work, furiously tapping away at the keys.

"WHAT'S THE BIG I--" Cid roared as he got up, but stopped as he saw Maru's fingers flying across the keys. "Holy shit."

Maru frowned, then shifted the way he frowned. First it was deep, then it was subtle, to the left, to the right, and deep again, then slight. Finally, he stopped. "There. Fixed it." He sat up and Cid got back into the spot. "There was a problem with the main program of one of the essentials, so I hacked in and fixed it. I did nothing else, since I don't know what's junk or not on that computer." He stood there, showing no real emotion as Cid just gaped at the screen.

Cid blinked, then roared with laughter. "I CAN'T BELIEVE IT!! I GOT SLAMMED BY A KID!!" he guffawed, and Maru anger-veined. "No offense, really," he said, wiping a tear from his eye. He grinned. "Thanks, tho, uh...Maru, right?" he asked.

Maru nodded. "Yes. Heard of me?" he asked.

"Yeah, and your cohorts there," he said. "Saw you on the battlefeild last time you were here..." He sniggered. "...Mr. Serious-Pants!!" He laughed hard again, and Maru fumed, blushing deeply.

"Figment, I'm going to have to kill you one of these days for doing that," he threatened out of the corner of his mouth, teeth gritted.

Figment giggled. "Aw, ya just can't take a joke!" he said, shaking his head.

Maru sighed, then straightened and held out the gummi again. "Well, now the computer's fixed," he said. "Could you please install this now?"

Cid grinned. "Sure thing! And 'cuz you fixed the computer for me so fast, I'll do it for free!" he added, and took the gummi. "Come to the study--the room with all the books connected to this one--in 15 minutes or so." He left.

Maru shrugged and went to explore a little bit while they waited. The others followed him, since they always did, so he shrugged and just let them. Continuing on his exploration of the castle, he found and said hi to some people he'd met before the last time he came here.

- - -

"So."

A supremely well-built man in a black cloak turned to face another black-cloaked figure appearing in the room he occupied. He had a short white full beard and silver hair, as well as a fair share of wrinkles upon his face. His yellow eyes narrowed, no eyebrows above them, and his square mouth frowned.

The other figure reappeared and sniffed, crossing her arms. "So? So what?" asked Cardixa. "Displeased with my thrown battle back there, or what?"

The large old man's frown deepened. "You could have given him more of a challenge," he complained, putting a hand on his hip. "He IS the most powerful pokémon ever, or one of them. He must have felt cheated."

Cardixa scoffed and looked away, batting a hand down dismissivly. "Yeah, right, he sucked," she bit back. "He only won because his Keyblade's special ability deals extra damage with certain stabs." She looked back slyly. "I'm surprised that you're not mad at HIM for doing something so cheap, Arxeron."

Arxeron shook his head. "No," he replied shortly. "It was only fair, since you took advantage of your own special ability in the battle against his Terroge." He nodded. "An eye for an eye is honorable as I can see; although, it would have been better if he had not used it..." he added, trailing off into thought.

Cardixa scoffed, then walked off. "Well, you go ahead and mull over honor again, Arzy, but I'm off to report what I've discovered from him," she informed the strong senior, then disappeared out a door.

Arxeron growled and shook his head. "Stupid girl," he grumbled to himself, then turned and walked away in the opposite direction. "She has no clue what it is to be a true warrior. To have to resort to such a tactic, Mewtwo must have hurt inside a little." He shook his head and then looked out the window of the white room to a chaotic sky lit by a bright pink sun outside. "At least he is learning what the rest of us must before becoming truly powerful."

"Sometimes I wonder if we're teaching him," mused another man who had come in behind him. He tapped his red-tipped cane about as he walked, dark glasses on his face as he went. He had albino skin and white-blonde hair, and delicate eyebrows. He wore no jewelry.

Arxeron looked over his shoulder at the other man, then nodded. "I do, too, Korxen," he agreed, turning back to gaze out at the sky. "And I wonder if One is thinking the same."

"And what if?" asked Korxen, raising an eybrow.

- - -

After meeting with a few people, Maru and co. decided to go back to the study. They entered and found a very messy room full of books and papers. Cid sat in a chair behind the desk, crossing his arms and just sitting back and looking a little bored. He raised an eyebrow as he saw the trio enter. "A minute late," he noticed, standing. "Took your time, eh?"

Maru bowed shortly in appology. "Sorry," he said. He looked up again at him. "Are you finished with the installation?"

"Yep," Cid confirmed, smirking a little. "Kinda stupid, though, that you're just gonna go to ONE other world, in my opinion. The chances of you finding another Navigation Gummi are slim to none. Although..." He thumbed his nose and grinned at Maru. "The place YER goin' to might just be in that 'slim' category."

Maru smiled and nodded. "Yes. The Melee Arena is a meeting place of many worlds. Traditionally it's just for a breif time to participate normally, but with things as they are now..." His smile faded as he bowed his head, crossing his arms. "...Maybe they could have a lot of people who are not officially entrants..."

Cid smirked and walked over. "You know, I HAVE recently gotten a couple letters for some well-known people here," he told them, and fished out a pair of letters from his belt. "They left me out, but there are two here who would probably love to receive their letters. Like I'm sure you've got...?" He looked questioningly at Maru.

Maru grinned sheepishly. "Yes, I have had it for a long time," he admitted, "but was too busy with my own self-pity at the time to care about it. I still have it, hence the Gummi. It's sort of beat-up, here inside my coller, but it should still get me in." 'I hope.'

Cid smirked. "Well, anyway, I dunno where one of these guys is, but could you deliver these to the other guy?" he asked, handing the letters to Maru. Maru took and looked at them. 'Yup,' he confirmed to himself, eyeing the wax seal on the backs of them. He looked up in askance of direction. "He's probably downstairs, from the computer room," Cid pointed. He grinned. "See ya, guys, and good luck, Mr. Serious-Pants!!"

Maru and company had turned and were leaving, but at the name, Maru twitched to a stop mid-step and turned around, anger-veining. "WOULD YOU QUIT IT, ALREADY?!" he seethed through clenched teeth, holding a fist. Everyone laughed.

They went downstairs and into a large room. VERY large. Maru, Figment, and Elliot all gazed in awe at the size of the room and of the tanks there. "I wonder what those were for?" Figment asked.

Maru tilted his head and made a questioning face. "I wonder if they're for..." he murmured, then shook his head and continued down the steps. On a circular platform below was, indeed, a man. Maru smirked when he saw who it was. "Leon!!" he called as he came down.

Leon turned from gazing off at the tanks, probably in thought, and looked up at Maru. He raised an eyebrow. "Serious-Pants returns, I see," he noticed. He smirked as Maru just gave him an unamused look with a small anger-vein on his forehead. Maru had it cleared by the time he got over to him. "So what's going on?" he asked.

Maru held up one of the letters. "You're cordially invited, Squall Leonheart, to enter the fray," he replied simply. After Leon had taken it, he nodded and turned to leave. "See you there," he said over his shoulder. He handed the other letter to him. "And please give this one to Mr. Cloud Strife."

"Woah, there, wait." Maru stopped. "What's the news with your journey?"

Maru sighed. "One sealed, one I'll come back to later on, and one sealed too late," he merely replied. "As for my own journey, nothing still in terms of a lead, though I have regained a fair amount of power." He turned to go again.

Leon merely grunted and looked at his letter. "See you again, Keyblader. And quit brooding, already."

Maru paused, but then nodded and walked up the stairs again. As he left, Elliot sensed something, and asked with concern, "Why are you so anxious to leave, Maru? Why not talk with Leon some more?"

Maru sighed. "I just want to leave. And besides," he added, glancing over his shoulder, "does Leon really seem the type to want to carry a conversation long?"

Elliot raised an eyeridge, but looked at the Gunblader, then sweatdropped. "Err...not really, no," he admitted, and Maru chuckled.

They eventually, after making sure they were all restocked, reached the ship and got on. As Maru lifted off, he wondered, 'What does he mean, 'quit brooding'? I'm not brooding!'

'Or are you?'

Maru shook his head. '...' He selected the course and took off.

- - -

'Why...'

A pair of brown eyes opened behind a visor. A head within a metal helmet lifted.

'Why do I...recognize him? From where...? He is the target...but...who IS he? And who am I, spying on him like a stalker?? I...'

The head dropped. '...I don't know...'

- - -

Aaaaahhh, nice little bit of relaxation, eh? And not another gazillion-pager, either!! XD;; DX;; I gotta get m'ass in gear and update with these...


	13. 10: Pokéunion

**Bit 10: (intermission)**

The ship stopped outside the new world. It had only one thing upon it: A Roman-styled (ugh, thought I'd never have to try spelling this...GRR!) colluseum. The rest was only a floating globe wherin spun a red disc with an off-center cross inside of it. A symbol known only too well by many as a symbol of greatness.

Maru grinned--for real. He really GRINNED. "I have never been so excited to fight since before this whole ordeal began!" he laughed to himself, looking down to the world through the window.

Figment and Elliot looked at him and, then at each other, then at him again, looking puzzled all the time. "We're going to fight ON PURPOSE?!" asked Figment.

Maru turned and grinned, shaking his head. "Not you two," he corrected, "just me. You get to sit back and relax for a while."

The two dragons breathed a sigh of relief. "Oh, thank goodness," Elliot mumbled. "I was getting tired of fightning."

Maru grinned. "Not me!" He raced to the airlock. "Come on!" he motioned. "You guys want a good place in the stands, don't you?"

As slightly disturbed by Maru's behavior as they were, Figment and Elliot tromped off to join him.

They landed outside the entrance of the (GAH!) colluseum. Telling the dragons to wait there, Maru raced over to it and stopped in front of a booth there. Inside the booth was a guy in a clean, snappy uniform, looking pretty bored. He looked up as Maru stopped in front of him, looking anxious. "May I help you, sir?" he asked in a medium, boring voice.

Maru nodded, fishing out the envelope. He brought it out and slipped it into a slot within the glass of the booth. "Yes, I may not look like it, but I'm the person in that invitation," he assured him.

The man opened it and then looked at the letter. He raised his eyebrow as he switched the letter with another paper in his hand that was also within the envelope. He raised the other eyebrow as he glanced from the picture to Maru, then the picture again. "Sir, nice try, but while the eyes match, you're not Mewtwo," he droned a little annoyedly.

Maru sighed. "You have an Entrantdex in there, I know you do," he let him know, crossing his arms.

The man let out an aggrivated breath and rolled his eyes, then took out the circular, Pokédex-like device from his pocket. He pointed it at Maru and flipped it open, the same symbol from before now visible to him. After a second, he narrowed his eyebrows. "Alright, then, Mewtwo," he gave in, putting the Entrantdex away, "I dunno what crap you're tryin' to pull, but you'd better have a good reason."

Maru shifted his weight. "It's a long story, but in essense, I'm stuck in Transform, as far as I can tell, and have been given a giant key for a weapon. Right before my world vanished, of course."

The man raised an eyebrow and rested his cheek on his palm. "A-hah," he drawled, "I see. Well, you want to go by an alias for now?" he asked. "You don't look like people would believe you if they were told you're Mewtwo."

Maru nodded. "Just put me in as 'Maru,'" he said. "And I also have some companions with me." He called them over. "And they don't know who I am, either," he added, whispering to him. "So hush on the 'two stuff."

The man nodded lazilly, tapping at a computer keyboard. "Yes, Circle," he replied.

Maru blinked, then anger-veined. "It's 'Maru,' no translations whatsoever," he growled.

The man smirked breifly, but must have been too lazy to keep it up. "You know the drill, Maru, left hand..."

Maru held up his left hand, back of it facing the man, and the man held up his own, palm to Maru. A short burst of light came from it, and they both lowered their hands. By then, the other two had arrived, and Figment looked quizically at Maru. "What was that?" he asked.

Maru turned and showed him. On the back of his left hand, and fading quickly, was a glowing red mark like the circle symbol becoming more common. "It shows I'm an entrant. You guys hold up your right paws, backs to this guy, up, and he'll mark you with blue ones that show you're to be allowed to be in the stands. Like a stamp at a carnival or something." He let his down. Elliot picked up Figment and the two held up their scaly paws to the man, who "stamped" them, too. They looked at them with wonder as they faded.

Afterwards, the man motioned them along. "Go on inside, whatever, just keep fights inside the ring. And spectators," he added, "should be wary of anything flying at them. Be on your guards."

The three nodded and entered the...I'm not gonna try spelling that again.

**Bit 10: Melee Arena**

Maru smiled as he walked the hallway into the ring, looking around. "Just like last time," he mumbled, excited to fight again.

"Err, Maru?" asked Figment, who was riding Elliot's shoulder still. "What the heck is this place, anyway?"

Maru turned and smiled. "Well, this place is known as the Melee Arena, as the ship's computer said before," he began. "This place is where the ultimate battle takes place: The Melee Tournament. It was created some time ago by who knows who, and since then, a select group of people--both hero and villan alike--have been chosen once every few years to arrive here and duke it out in unique ring-out-based challanges." He explained the rules of the basic mode of everyone's favorite fighting/platforming(sorta) game. "You get hit, and you fly back. Get hit again by the same attack, you'll fly farther. The more damage you've taken, the farther you will fly back. If you fly out of the ring, you're ko'ed and the one who threw you or hit you out gets a point while you lose one. The one with the most points at the end of the two-minute time limit wins. In case of a tie, the tying fighters get high damage inflicted upon them so that one good hit will send them soaring. Of course, once you're out, you'll come back in on a recovery platform. It's all very exciting and fun."

Elliot gulped. "You're not getting hurt, then, right?" he asked worriedly.

Maru shook his head. "Not really. And besides, this tournament doesn't last forever, despite the fact we sort of keep fighting after we return to our worlds a few seconds after we left them in its time, as if nothing had happened. What they do is scan us with a computer and then create trophies of us. They then pit these trophies against one another for more fights." Maru grinned. "I'm not going to be hurt, don't you worry. And soon, we can resume our journey, since I'm sure, with as late as I am to this tournament, the fights are nearly done. I just hope I CAN fight." They finally came upon a pair of arches in the hallway with some stairs from them. Two more men in uniforms stood by them, looking bored as well. Maru nodded. "You two go up a stairway and take a seat. Show these two your right paw and they'll let you in," he explained.

The two nodded. "We'll see you later, Maru!" waved Figment as they approached the left man. Maru held his left hand up to wave, making sure that the other man could see its back. The other man nodded, and Maru walked on into the light of the main archway.

He entered through it and winced breifly as the light blinded him from the dark pathway into the arena. Then, he saw a large disc floating above the floor of the arena, which bore three more floating platforms and four fighters. Maru grinned and craned his head up to see, walking around the perimeter of the actual arena, who was fighting.

He saw a red capped-man, a green-clad swordsman, then a pink puffball(currently wearing a green hat), and...that's it? 'Wait...' Maru saw a flash of yellow. Again. And again! He raced around to get to see, but then stopped dead as he saw a flash of lightning. '...A...' He raced again, reaching some steps that went to a higher level around the ring, but still in the arena area. He got up and then stopped, gasping as he saw who was there.

A yellow rat landed, then squeezed up. As the green warrior ran towards him, the rat uncoiled its wound up body like a spring, launching a jolt of electricity right at him. The warrior was parylized by it a split second before launching off, the crowd gathered in the stands around roaring. A breif moment later, a flash of light signified that he had gone out of the ring.

Maru didn't care who had been eliminated, as the announcer was saying. Right then, he saw only the face above him as its owner cutly waved at the audience. 'IT HAS TO BE!!' He cupped his hands around his mouth and screamed at the top of his lungs, "PIKACHUUUUU!!"

The pokémon looked as its name was called, perking its ears. It glanced down, where the sound had come from, and gasped. The figure below smacked its forehead and began to wave its arms wildly. Suddenly, the Electric-type was hit from behind. "CHUUU!!" it screamed in agony as it soared off straight horizonatally. It hit the invisible wall and evaporated with a grunting "Pi-ka!" as it was ko'ed.

"GAME!!" shouted the announcer. The platform immediately fell, the remaining fighter disappearing. The platform suddenly disappeared before it crashed down to the ground.

Maru cursed and ran back down the stairs as this happened. "Me and my big mouth!!"

A trio of pillars rose from the center of the arena, each one taller than the last. Each was numbered. The pink puffball from before appeared on the ground in front of it, then the green warrior went onto the shortest pillar, then the Pikachu on the next tallest, and finally...

"THIS GAME'S WINNER IS..." called the announcer, and then the winner appeared on the tallest pillar and did a little victory dance. "...MARIO!!"

The crowd thundered. Maru frowned as he saw the other pokémon on the second-place podium, clapping its short little paws together, like the others were(well, the warrior was clapping his hands, and the pink thing was clapping his...whatever they were).

"In second place: PIKACHU!! In third: LINK!! And in fourth: KIRBY!!" the announcer continued. "Let's have a round of applause for all of them!!" The audience complied, and the four then went in a ring in front of the podium. They shook each others' hands and paws and hand-like protrusions. (Nothing against Kirby, seriously XD;; )

Pikachu seemed a little distant, though, and as soon as it was done, it looked around. As soon as it saw Maru, it gasped. "Pi..." "Mew..."

Maru widened his eyes as he saw the look of recognition on the pokémon's face, and then did so to his mouth. He waved, then began running over.

Pikachu let out a happy cry and dashed to him. The crowd watched as the two met. "MEWTWOOOO!!" Pikachu cried jubilantly as he leapt to him.

"PIKACHU!!" Maru returned, catching Pikachu in his arms. The two hugged each other, so glad they could see each other after being separated from their worlds without knowing if they'd ever see each other again. Maru held him out again and smiled at him. "I never thought that YOU were the Pikachu that I fought against here last time!!" he decided to say.

Pikachu laughed. "And I wondered if it really was you that I fought," he returned, his fellow pokémon letting him down onto the ground. "Come on, let's get to my room and we can talk about what's happened since that awful night!" he beckoned, turning and jerking his head to a door a ways off.

Maru nodded. "Yes, before someone else comes and greets me as a newbie," he agreed, and the two scampered off.

As they did, though, Maru heard a "MARUUU!!" from the stands. He looked up and saw his two companions waving. "A friend?" asked Figment, pointing to Pikachu.

Maru smiled. "Yes, from my world!" he shouted back. "We're going to catch up with each other since we had been separated!"

"Oh, okay!!" Figment replied, and the two sat back into his comfortible seat again. Since he was sure it was safe to, with all these other fighters around, Elliot had decided to remove his armor and set it aside underneath his tail while he sat back and watched anything in front of him in the ring. He had also happilly allowed Figment to use him as a seat again; the pleasure it brought himself was that he was helping another feel better.

Pikachu led Maru down a hallway with many large doors, each with a single-color symbol on them. It was very nice-looking and clean, with high-quality wood for the white-painted doors. Maru smirked as he looked around. "Been remodling a little since I came down the hallway last, I see," he said.

"Yep!" Pikachu chirped. He stopped by a doorway with a Pokéball symbol on it. Underneath was a name tag in both Japanese and English that each bore his name in their respective language. "Here's my room," he said, and was about to leap up and grab the doorknob when Maru simply reached and turned it for him. Pikachu thanked him, then bounded into the room.

Inside was a bed, a dresser, a couch, a tv with a Wii set up near it, and a door that led to a bathroom. Maru nodded, pleased at the accomidations since his last visit. "I see the Melee staff has done a good job with the rooms," he said.

Pikachu, who had gotten onto his bed, shook his head. "Not 'Melee' anymore, Mewtwo, it's the Brawl tournament, now," he corrected, smiling. "They're pulling lots more people from all over, now. Expect to see a ton of faces around here!"

Maru smirked and sat on the couch after removing his shoes at the door(as per Japanese custom, remember). "That would be good," he said, massaging his poor, tired feet. "Ugh, I hate having to wear shoes so much, as comfortible as mine are..." He then looked up at Pikachu again and smiled. "Would you please begin? My story is long, and I have a feeling it's longer than yours, sorry to say."

Pikachu smiled and nodded. "Well, what happened was that, after we separated, I went unconcious and flew through that weird portal, I guess. Somehow, I don't know how, I woke up outside the stadium here." He held up his right paw. "At first, I was worried and looked around for Ash, but then realized that, well...He's not really here...But at least I was safe, here. I remembered that I'd gotten that letter a little bit ago, and so I came here and registered. It took a little while without the letter, since I really don't have any pockets or anything, but I got in." He put his paw down again. "Then, well, I entered the fights, and have been here ever since. It's been a few days, and every day I worry about Ash..." He looked worried, drooping his ears. "...Have you met with him yet?" he asked.

Maru sighed and shook his head. "I'm sorry, Pikachu, I truly am," he said softly, sincerely so. "I have gone to four different worlds--wait, five--and have seen neither hide nor hair of our friend. I worry for him, too." Pikachu let out a desparaged "Chaaa...", drooping his head, but then perked his ears up as Maru placed his right hand on his head. He looked up into the triangular violet eyes. "But I promise, I'll find him. And I'll tell him you're here," he told him.

Pikachu smiled and nodded, a few tears coming from his eyes. "Thanks, Mewtwo." Suddenly, he froze, perking up everything on him: the hairs on his neck, his tail, his ears, and his eyes. He gaped as something swam in his eyes.

Maru's eyebrows shot up, and he lowered his head to look into Pikachu's eyes. "Pikachu? What's wrong?" he asked.

Pikachu slowly smiled, and more tears came from his eyes. "Ash..." he whispered. "He's alright..."

Maru gasped. "What?! How--?! Where??"

Pikachu shook his head. "I don't know, but..." He touched Maru's hand. "Your hand's cool, like a Psychic attack, and I can feel him...He's safe, but he's fighting right now...But he's alive and he's safe," he said, letting his arm down, "and that's all I really care about." He finally flumped down onto his pillow, crying silent, relieved tears. As soon as he broke from contact with Maru's palm, the swimming in his eyes became nothing but tears.

Maru blinked, amazed, then looked at his palm. "I wonder...was it a bit of psychic residue in my body that responded to you?" he asked nobody in particular. He nodded to himself. "That's got to be it. My ambient psychic power must have been strong enough to initiate an emphatic link between you and Ash," he concluded. "Although, with my still-weak powers, my ambient power must have been just like a little link in the chain, so to speak," he added, smiling gently and lowering his hand. "Pikachu, you must love your friend greatly, since the power of your friendship for him must have been nearly enough to form a link on your own."

Pikachu blinked and sat up a bit. "You mean...I'm psychic, too?" he asked, amazed.

Maru chuckled. "In a way," he answered, "but one that's more from your heart." He smiled. "I'm glad that Ash is safe. I...consider him a friend, too," he said, looking away a little, smile fading a bit. "Because he has taught me so much. Not all humans are cruel. And that I belong in our world. Not to mention he saved my life." 'To this day, I still doubt whether adrenaline alone gave him the strength to toss me that far or not,' he mused. His face went grave, however, and he continued softly, "But I have failed him in returning the favor. How could he call me his friend when..."

"He didn't know that it was you, remember?" Pikachu reminded him. Maru looked up at him. Pikachu was smiling helpfully. "It's not your fault, either...right?"

Maru slowly smiled a little. "You're right..." 'That's what he meant...I AM brooding...' He sighed and laid back on the couch. "And I suppose it's my turn to explain?"

"...Wow," was all Pikachu could say some time later, blinking at Maru while he munched on an apple he'd gotten from a fridge concealed in the wall his bed was on and above it. "So you're gonna be some sort of hero, now? Sealing worlds to stop these Heartless thingies?" he summarized.

Maru nodded, drinking his water and third apple. (Just because the save discs re-energized him each time he stepped into them didn't mean that he didn't want food once in a while, and he felt hungry.) "Yes," he confirmed, swallowing his bite. He looked at his apple in awe a little. "You know, I never knew that I could eat so much before I got full," he mused aloud.

Pikachu blinked in surprise at this. "Huh?"

Maru chuckled a little and blushed. "Well, I always have eaten as little as I could so that I didn't need to brave public restrooms," he explained. Then he thought for a second. "Or any restrooms, for that matter; I've always been too busy being Giovanni's slave, building my palace, gathering the trainers, trying to get by at Purity Canyon, or just plain training," he realized, raising his eyebrow.

Pikachu blinked, then pursed his mouth shut as his cheeks grew even redder. "How much do you normally eat?" he asked, a little strainedly.

Maru raised an eyebrow. "Only one meal a day, and it's either a very small submarine sandwich or a plain salad with no dressing or anything but lettuce," he answered.

Pikachu looked like was was keeping back vomit or something, his cheeks were swelling so much now. "And--You did this all so that you didn't need to go to the bathroom?!" he asked, squeakilly now.

Maru, knowing what was coming, grimaced as he nodded. A second later, Pikachu couldn't hold it in and erupted with laughter. Maru burned with embaressment, but was also unsure as to why he would be being laughed at, in a way. After he was sure Pikachu was done with his little fit, which was a minute and a half later, he calmly asked, "And why is that so amusing? Is it simply preposterous?"

Pikachu giggled and wiped a tear from his eye. "Because...chu-uu-uu...that's just impossible!!" he answered. He giggled a litte more. "Chu-uu-uu-uu!! Cha-ha-ha!...I can't believe you didn't know it!! I thought you were really smart!!"

Maru anger-veined. "Are you mocking me?!" he demanded, clenching his fist.

Pikachu shook his head. "No, no, no, really, I'm not, I'm just..." He chuckled a little. "...So surprised that you didn't think of it..."

Maru stopped the anger-veining and fist-clenching and asked, "What is it, then?"

Pikachu chortled. "No matter what or how much you eat, unless you just plain DON'T, you always have to go!" he finally answered. He giggled a little more. "That's a really basic fact of Biology!! Pokémon and other creatures all generate waste if they eat and drink! Even plants make waste--"

"--Oxygen," Maru finished, face turning red as a beet as he felt so embaressed that he'd forgotten that one important fact about life forms. "I can't believe I'm still so naïve...that I thought that by eating barely anything I could avoid it...but wait..." He looked down confusedly at his torso. "I've never needed the toilet in my entire life," he realized.

Pikachu giggle-gasped, sort of laughed and gasped at once. "What?"

Maru raised an eyebrow as he looked up a little amazed and puzzled at Pikachu. "I have never gone to the toilet. Ever."

Pikachu now stopped laughing and widened his eyes. "That's impossible," he muttered. "I don't know how else you could..." He stopped to think a little.

Maru thought a bit. "Unless my body somehow converts the solid matter into energy of some sort, even after all the energy has been taken out of the food, or something...Or...Maybe it uses some of my own energy to eliminate the matter out of existence somehow...or break it down so much that I sweat it all out...or..." He looked up, wide-eyed. "Maybe my body teleports it somewhere else," he suggested.

Pikachu gaped at him. "Amazing...You don't even know everything about your own body yet...?" he asked.

Maru shook his head, then thought of something and laughed. "No," he replied. He motioned to his young human form. "I guess I'm still going through puberty--finding things out about my body I never knew before." He laughed a bit at his own joke, and Pikachu did, too, sorta(a Pikachu equivilant of an Eh-heh-heh...). Maru shrugged. "Well, getting off the subject, I suppose I don't have to limit myself so much. I never DID feel completely full, but I shouldn't go crazy now, either." He giggled nervously. "I couldn't bear the thought of me gaining weight from something other than muscle mass or bone thickness, if you know what I mean!"

Pikachu laughed nervously, too. "Yeah, I know..." Then he stopped and thought, then anger-veined himself. "HEY!! I TAKE THAT PERSONALLY!!"

Maru blinked in confusion, then realized what he meant and laughed. "OH, GOD!! Pikachu, I didn't mean it like that, you know that," he told him, shaking his head.

Pikachu dropped the act and laughed too. "It's not fat, anyway, it's just how us Pikachu are born...or evolved, technically," he added, chuckling. He looked a little somber as he said, "But I do get a little mad when people think I'm chubby. Seriously, I do enough excersize with battling that I couldn't possibly be like that, anyway."

Maru sighed and smiled a little. "I actually doubt it'll be easy for me to gain weight that way, since, apart from the fact those scientists obviously have thought of everything to make me the best around, I've never really been one to relax for very long. In fact, I'm itching to get into the ring here and fight, despite the fact I've been doing nothing but for what feels like ages!" He laughed heartilly. "I can't help it! Fighting's literally in my blood, and I quite frankly don't give a damn if it is!!"

Pikachu laughed with him. "There's nothing wrong with that," he said, "except if you fight innocent, normal, and defenseless people without them being asked to before." He smiled. "And having a reason to fight helps, too...Do you have one?"

Maru smiled a bit. "To get my powers back, to save you, Ash, and the rest of our world, and to be the best I can possibly be," he replied confidently.

Pikachu smiled back. "That's pretty good." He sighed, then noticed something on Maru's belt: the monster ball. He perked his ears up in remembrance. "Oh! I forgot! You said something about actually CATCHING a pokémon in some world?"

Maru started. "That's right! I completely forgot about him!" He stood up and looked around the room, guaging its size. "Let's see...Hmmmm..." After a moment, he nodded. "Yes, I think this will do quite nicely," he decided. "The ceiling's high, there's ample space--which is probably for maximum enjoyment of that Wii--and things are spaced out enough that nothing should knock over." He stood back, then decided to hop onto the bed by Pikachu(bouncing him up a bit). He maximized the ball. "Now, come out, Terroge!!" he called, and opened the ball.

The burst of light shone forth from the ball, dazzling Pikachu. Terroge then materialized in front of them, taking up a lot of space inside the room and basically filling the space. When he fully came out, he let out a mighty "Ter-ROOOOOGE!!" He then looked around at his surroundings, finding no enemies in sight. "Ter? Ter?...Terroge?" he asked, tilting his head in a confounded way.

Maru laughed. "No, there's no enemies for you to fight with," he told him. "Just thought you'd like some fresh air, and to introduce you to a friend." He motioned to Pikachu, who was looking a little startled at Terroge's appearance. "You know what kind of pokémon this is, right?" he asked his own.

Terroge peered at Pikachu, then nodded. "Ter, teroge," he confirmed. He took a very careful step towards them, wary of his surroundings. He didn't look very comfortible with so much stuff around that he was certain might break and make someone mad.

Maru smiled. "That's good," he said. To Pikachu, he said, "He's alright, as far as I can tell as of now. He used to only battle, but ever since the last time I battled with him, when he started to actually say his name, he's seemed to show a little more personality. I think he's finally free of the darkness that still lingered within his heart." He smiled at the pokémon, happy that he was okay.

Pikachu shook his head. "No, he's not," he contradicted. Maru started. Pikachu gave him a sad face. "I'm sorry, Maru, but I can still see some black stuff around him. If what you told me is true, that means he's not completely here, yet. Plus, he's not making any sense--he's just saying his name, although he's obviously talking."

Maru raised his eyebrows as he lowered his chin to his hand. "I never thought of that," he mumbled, glancing at Terroge. He then pulled a worried face and put a hand on him. "Terroge...I'm sorry..."

Terroge shook his head, and Maru's heart panged as he saw that the pokémon's eyebrows and face made absolutely no sign of emotion except...blank. All he could do was blink and speak with little enthusiasm.

Maru closed his eyes, bowing his head for a bit. Then, he clenched his fist and looked up again, determined look on his face. Pikachu started at the resemblence to his best friend. "There's a way," Maru said. "I heard of the two boys from both of the Shadow pokémon incedents purifying their pokémon somehow...I think it was by visiting Agate Village and going into the forest there. They visited a stone that was said to have glowed green..." He trailed off in thought.

Pikachu absorbed this information and was about to say something, when suddenly, a lightbulb went off in his head. "Woah! Wait, you said that they used a green-glowing stone?" he asked Maru.

Maru turned to him. "Yes, why?" he asked, then got the implication. "Do you know where it is?!"

Pikachu shook his head. "I'm not exactly sure that it's what you're thinking of," he admitted, "but it's pretty dang close. Come on!" He hopped down and went to the door.

Maru hopped off, too, and navigated his way around Terroge. He got his shoes and socks on, then followed Pikachu, who was waiting for him in the hall. He first held the door open for Terroge, then the three set off, racing down the halls.

Eventually, they got to a section that had numbers, instead of names, and no symbols adorning the doors. Pikachu counted, then skidded to a stop. Maru did, then the two squeaked as Terroge tried to, as well, but didn't in time, and ended up slamming the two onto the ground. Maru got up and told Terroge that it was okay, and helped up Pikachu, too. "Well, anyway, here we are," the small pokémon said, looking up at the door, number 517. "She should be in here."

Maru nodded and knocked gently. "Yes?" an elderly female voice said from behind.

"It's me!" Pikachu called, though he knew she couldn't understand him.

"Pikachu!! Why, come in!" the voice called, and Maru opened the door. He saw an old woman with a pair of glasses, a blue dress, and white hair tied up in a tight bun inside. She wore one of those old-lady "fashion" earrings in each ear, these being big blue square ceramic things with faux-gold trims, a necklace with a garnet on it, and a golden bracelet on each thin wrist. She was one of those anime characters that didn't open their eyes(like Brock), but she was obviously surprised when Maru entered the room with Pikachu. "Oh, my! And who would this handsome young man be?" she asked, surprised. "A friend of yours, Pikachu?"

"Yes!" Pikachu nodded. He hopped onto her sofa by her, where she sat with a cup of tea.

She smiled and sighed in relief. "That's good," she said. "I was afraid it was one of those attractive fellows who aren't so nice." She cackled breifly, then patted the seat by her. "Please, come in, stranger!"

Maru bowed. "Thank you, madam," he replied politely, "and may I bring my pokémon in with me?"

The lady put her hand to her breast. "Oh, my! A trainer? Please, bring your lovely pokémon in, too!" she insisted, smiling.

Maru hesitated, but called Terroge over. When he came into view, the woman started with an "Oh, my!!", and Maru sighed, sweat-dropping. "I'm sorry, I should have said something about Terroge's appearance," he appologized, reaching to remove his shoes.

The woman giggled. "I actually don't mind his appearance," she assured him. "I actually think he looks good. Especially those beautiful green eyes." She smiled. "They are so full of life..."

Maru smiled and finished removing his footwear, then entered the room. Terroge followed, careful not to hit anything. Maru closed the door and came and sat next to the woman. "May I be so rude as to ask your name, madam?" he asked, smiling as best he could.

She smiled. "Harmony," she supplied. "And you?"

"Maru." Before she asked, he added, "Pikachu and I were there in our world when the Heartless attacked. We also know each other because of...past events." He doubted revealing that was actually a pokémon would be a good move.

She giggled. "I was about to ask! You must be psychic," she joked.

Maru smirked and nodded. "Exactly."

Harmony raised her thin eyebrows. "Really?" She turned to Pikachu, who smiled and nodded. She raised her lower lip impressedly. "Amazing! Did you actually read my mind?" she asked, turning back to Maru.

"No," he answered, shaking his head. "Just a plain prediction."

"I see." Harmony smiled, then turned to Terroge. "Where did you find your--" She stopped, mouth open a little. A second later, she said quietly, "Oh, my..."

Terroge was still standing there, blank expression, looking at Maru. He glanced at Harmony, then at Maru again.

Maru sighed. "That's why I came here," he confessed. "I suppose you can see his black aura still there?"

Harmony closed her mouth and solomnly nodded. "I thought I'd seen the last of the Shadow pokémon when I lived in Agate," she said quietly. "I see they still exist."

"No, not really," Maru said, holding a finger. "You see...Terroge wasn't originally pure pokémon." He pointed that finger to his stomach, where the red streak was. "That was different before."

Harmony gasped and backed away a little. "You mean...a Heartless?!" she asked. "One of those dastardly feinds who attacked our world?!? You...you CAUGHT one?!" She looked incredulously at Maru, eyes now "open" and showing a brilliant maroon.

Maru nodded and smiled. "I fought him myself," he added. "After capturing him, though, a heart came from the ball I used to capture him...a ball I created long ago for a foolish notion I'd gotten in my head..." He held up his ball. "This ball became what's called a Light Ball. It can, as far as I've gathered, capture Heartless who are actually pokémon...Heartless pokémon." He put it back. "He then acted like a Shadow pokémon, although he could use more moves than Shadow Rush. Now, after a grand battle where he fought against a Nobody pokémon--you know what Nobodies are, right? Well, they're basically the empty body after a powerful heart is taken from someone--he can say his name...but nothing of meaning comes from it. I should know; I'm able to understand what pokémon say."

Harmony raised her eyebrow, but nodded. "I see...So you're basically at the point where all Terroge needs is to be purified, right?" she asked. Maru nodded. She put a hand over her chin, thinking. Then, she got up and went to her dresser, careful around Terroge. She opened a drawer and pulled out a grey stone, then closed the drawer again. The stone was about the size of a football and had many carvings on it. She sat down with it again. "Do you know where this comes from?" she asked.

Maru guessed, "The stone in Agate Forest?"

Harmony nodded. "It's a peice of the Relic Stone," she said. "It's been used to purify Shadow pokémon whose hearts' doors are ready to be opened. It undoes the final lock and brings them back." She looked at Terroge. "It may be small, but even this peice is powerful if used properly. It contains the power of the pokémon Celebi, so it is quite potent," she told him.

Maru looked at it with wonder. "I can feel its power from here," he said reverently. He looked into her eyes. "Please..." She widened hers as they maintained eye contact after a second. "...Could you dispel the darkness within Terroge?" Maru asked her.

Harmony looked a little surprised, but then smiled. "Of course, Maru," she sighed. "Let's see if Terroge's ready yet..." She held the stone near Terroge, who looked at it in wonder. As it neared him, it began to glow bright green. Satisfied, Harmony brought it back to her. "Yes. Now," she continued, standing, "Tell Terroge to hold still."

"Terroge, hold still," commanded Maru. Terroge froze as if instantly encased in a block of ice, only blinking.

Harmony closed her eyes for real. The Relic Stone peice in her hands glowed bright green. "Now...Celebi, guardian of the forest, lend me your power through this stone piece..." She opened them and Maru saw that they were as green as the stone. "...Purify this pokémon, Terroge, that he may live with an open heart!!"

Suddenly, the light from the stone shot out and circled Terroge, dancing about and converging upon him into a spinning ball, causing him to glow greenish. After a moment of this light show, a wave of darkness burst from Terroge's body and was shattered by the green light, which shot and struck it like lightning. Then, the light itself burst in a flash, and Terroge was normally-colored again. He stood there, blinking at what had just happened. Harmony quietly put the stone, which was now normal again, back into its drawer, then sat down. She smiled. "It's done."

Maru, who had been tense for the experience to end, immediately turned to Terroge and commanded, "Say something! Anything!! Please!!"

Terroge blinked, looked at Maru, at Harmony, at the dresser, and then at Maru again. Slowly, he opened his mouth and asked, "Do you...understand me?"

Maru shakilly dropped his jaw and smiled slowly, eyes widening. "Yes, Terroge," he answered. "I can understand you perfectly."

Terroge widened his eyes and dropped his own jaw, which dropped into a smile, like a child's on Christmas morn in surprise and glee at the presents before them. His face was so expressive, Maru couldn't help but smile more at it. Then, Terroge surprised everyone by reaching out and grabbing Maru. With tears falling from his eyes, he squeaked, "Oh, thank you, THANK you!! Oh, man, oh, man!! I'm so happy!! I can actually BE HAPPY!!" as he hugged the purple-haired Keyblader tightly with his oversized arms.

Maru mrfed and flailed around. "MMPH!! T...Terroge?!...I'm...glad...but...urk...can't...breathe..." He was getting the life sqeezed out of him, and when Terroge opened his eyes and looked at him and his blue face, he was saved.

"Oh, my gosh!! Maru! I'm so sorry!!" Terroge meeped, sweat-dropping. He then pouted and looked truly sorry. "I was just so happy that I could express and speak normally again..." He hugged him again, very careful to be gentle this time. Even then it was pretty tight. "Thank you so much."

Maru gave an embarressed smile and then...hesitated. But with a gulp, he finally hugged back breifly. "You should really be thanking Madam Harmony," he told him, releasing and finally able to sit down again.

At this, Terroge started, then immediately was on the floor and bowing to her. "THANK YOU, Madam Harmony!! Thank you!!!" Maru translated for her, and she laughed.

"Oh, it's nothing," she replied, smiling and patting the pitch-black hair on his head. "Anything to help a pokémon or person regain their hearts when they are given the chance." She sighed and sat back. "You're quite affectionate to your trainer," she noticed.

Terroge started again, then rolled his eyes at Maru, who was sweatdropping and blushing. He did the same, his blush turning his cheeks and the top of his snout a very dark crimson, unsettlingly like dark, dried blood. He grinned sheepishly. "Sorry if I embarressed you, Maru," he appologized. "And that I hugged you too hard."

Maru laughed nervously. "That's alright," he replied. "Just...when you're going to do that again, try not to do that so hard..." He turned to Harmony. "And thank you, Madam Harmony," he added to her, and stood and bowed deeply. "I am very grateful and am in your debt."

Harmony smiled and nodded. "Thank you," she replied. "I am just glad that a pokémon is themselves again...or for the first time...?" She and Maru looked at Terroge. Terroge looked at them for a moment, mouth open as a very soft "Uh?..." came out. He then looked away, down at the floor, for some reason. Maru nodded. "So I see," Harmony said quietly, and all turned to her again. She closed her eyes, then opened them again as she looked up. She looked serious.

"It appears that we have yet another mystery about pokémon on our hands," she began. "We have here a Heartless that has become a pokémon somehow through the ball that Maru threw and caught him with. He was a pokémon, partially, to begin with, yet was not true yet. He has still his shape after purification, and thus this means we have an undiscovered breed of pokémon here." She bowed her head and continued. "A breed born without a heart, or at least one born with hearts shut so tight, they are as if without a heart. I have no idea how this breed came to be, or why they have decided to collect hearts like Heartless do...but I do know this much." She raised her head again and looked at Maru, her maroon gaze fixing his violet. "You, Maru, must seek to capture them and free their hearts from the deep darkness. Or, if you cannot capture them, defeat them like any other Heartless, and free their hearts from some of the suffering of darkness inflicted upon them."

Maru nodded. "I understand."

Harmony nodded, closing her eyes. She opened them again, though they were, again, "closed." "Whenever you find and capture a Heartless pokémon, weaken its dark aura until it can receed no more. Then, come to me, and I shall purify them. Now..." She stood up. "I must attend to certain duties. I ask that you three leave now. I wish you luck, Maru, and you, too, Terroge," she bade, looking at both. "Now go."

All three pokémon bowed to her. """Thank you, Harmony,""" they said, and went. Pikachu and Terroge left first, but while Maru laced back on his shoes, when the other two were waiting outside, Harmony turned to him.

"I know that you are ailed, as well, Maru."

Maru blinked and looked up. "Pardon?"

Harmony smiled sympathetically. "Your eyes. They are not the eyes of a man," she observed. "They are the eyes of a feirce, yet intelligent, beast. And ones filled with sadness, confusion, and determination."

Maru widened them. "How--"

Harmony put a finger to her lips. "Hush, young one," she said. She put the finger down. "Your journey is great, but one that has many purposes that are untrue. Do you know which is the true purpose to follow? Which one is the right way?" she riddled.

Maru looked a little surprised, but then looked down in thought. "...I...don't..." he whispered. He looked up again.

Harmony nodded. "But seek the answer further, continue on, and you will see," she instructed. "The peices to the puzzle of truth shall gather and be availible for you to place one by one. It is a complex one. It is one you must solve. And one that can be ruined if the hand of darkness and confusion is allowed to come and scatter the peices both fitted together and loose still." She nodded and was silent.

Maru looked at her, scrutenizing her, for a few moments, but then resumed his shoe-tying. He finished and rose, bowed, and left. Outside, the other two pokémon awaited him. "What took, Maru?" Terroge asked, tilting his head.

"I heard you two talking, but couldn't hear what you were saying," Pikachu recounted, raising an eyebrow.

Maru shook his head. "Nothing," he lied. "Come on, let's go and get back to the fights, shall we?" he asked, smiling again.

Terroge grinned and clenched his fists. "Yes!! Let's go, let's GO!!" he eagerly cheered, wagging his long tail.

Maru and Pikachu chuckled at him, then raced off, the larger pokémon following, making loud stomps with each heavy footfall.


	14. 10: Look Who's Talking

Maru, Pikachu, and Terroge went through the halls until they exited them out into the arena once again. Maru wondered when he would be called up to fight, since he was anxious to at least see for himself what he'd be up against.

At the moment, the crowd was being entertained by a trio of men wearing black two-piece suits. Each one had a microphone in one hand and sunglasses, though the latter was different for each. Arranged in a triangle, the three danced and sang in perfect unison. The one in the center had an orange pompadour and a smirk, the one on his left wore a large red afro and a frown, and the on on his right wore a hat over his own afro, as well as a friendly smile. The first two were white, while the last one was African-American.

"""...So wheeeeeeen you hold on to...the past then you...will break down what little is left...""" they sang while dancing something so silly that Maru almost laughed. He noticed that there was instrumental accompaniment as well.

"Who are THOSE guys?" Terroge, mystified, asked nobody.

"Those guys?" Pikachu asked, looking up at him and smiling. "They're Agents J, Derek, and Morris. J's the orange-haired guy, Derek's the redhead, and Morris is the black guy." He looked back up at them. "They're awesome! While fighters take a break, the audience can listen to and watch their performance."

Maru raised an eyebrow. "Is it just me, or can I feel some sort of feeling of inspiration?" he asked.

Pikachu laughed. "That's what they do!" he said. "They're basically cheerleaders in black suits."

Maru raised his other eyebrow, shifting them. "Well, whatever works," he shrugged. He looked up when the song ended and politely applauded. "They work well together."

After the song ended, J held his mic and said, "Okaaaaay, Melee Arena!! How's about another match for your entertainment?" he asked, announcer-style.

"He's also a substitute announcer when the normal one gets tired," added the yellow pokémon to Maru, who nodded in understanding, while the crowd roared in response.

"Then let's check the screen to see who's next!" J continued, and the three turned to a huge tv screen mounted on a wall that Maru noticed when he'd walked in the first time. On it was displayed a grid, with profiles of many people inside the squares. Most were just plain "?" signifying the person couldn't come there yet. A selector box blipped around the people who were visible and then, at regular intervals, a profile of someone appeared at the bottom in one of four larger boxes. J called them off as they appeared. "...Yoshi!!...Peach!!...Snake!! and...UH-oh!!"

A siren went off somewhere, red lights flashing all over. "Warning!! New Challanger Approaching!!" blared a robotic voice over the PA system.

Agent J chuckled and smirked more. "Well, now, who's that gonna be?" he wondered aloud.

Maru suddenly felt his hand grow warm. He lifted it and gasped in joy as the SSB symbol was pulsing all the colors of the rainbow. "YES!!" he crowed, pumping his fist. "I'm up!"

"Wait, Maru!" Pikachu suddenly gasped. "Before you go, a tip: if a ball that looks like that symbol appears, WHAIL ON IT FOR YOUR LIFE!!"

Maru, who was already, somehow, starting to vanish, nodded. "Thank you," he barely said before disappearing.

As the battlefeild began to float up and glow, changing shape along with the also-glowing rest of the arena, Terroge looked at the spot Maru had previously occupied. He frowned. "What's going on?" he asked Pikachu.

"That's how the guys here grab their fighters when they're ready to fight," Pikachu answered. "They teleport them to the ring, which then floats up and transforms into a new stage, and the entire arena, even, reflects what the environment is like." The arena soon stopped glowing, as did the ring. In the place of the normal things was an environment much like a grassy town. People that looked sort of polygonal looked on in what was the "Background," or the side of the ring that faced the screen from before, behind a fence, and it appeared the fighters fought on a set of train tracks. "Each environment is based off of the home world of one of the fighters," Pikachu continued. "I forget whose THIS is, but this place is called Smashville for some reason."

Terroge gasped when he looked and saw the four fighters enter. Each entered in their own unique way, with Peach first, then Yoshi, then Snake. When Maru entered was when Terroge gasped. Maru appeared on stage right, falling down from somewhere. He began falling absolutely invisible, but materialized more as he fell moderately slowly. As he fell, one of the familiar green disks he'd encountered on his journeys marked his designated landing spot. As soon as he landed, Maru summoned his Keyblade, which was in its bronze Kingdom Key form. He did this by throwing his hand behind him to a side, turning in the direction he threw it(right). (He had fallen facing forwards to the audience.) He then stood facing stage left in his stance.

Agents J, Morris, and Derek all had jumped off the ring when it had begun rising, and were now nowhere to be seen. J's voice, however, counted down. "3!...2!...1!...GO!!" he boomed as the fighters got into place.

"GOOD LUCK, MARU!!" Terroge cried, cupping his enormous paws over his maw. His tail wagged a little, or what passes for wagging with a long, thick tail able to wrap around a well-lived oak tree almost twice.

Pikachu smiled and copied the big guy, then led him to a spot where they could get a much better view.

Meanwhile, Maru had begun to fight. He knew how to fight in the Melee: Guard, dodge, jump, double-jump(which he had heartilly missed being able to do normally without much drain; he double-jumped in the same fashion he had outside Notre Dame, thankfully without too much effort. Sadly, this meant that he also didn't go NEARLY as high as he did before being forced to Transform), aireal attacks different for directions, specials, and, of course, Smash attacks. He had been informed during his teleport, through a means much like telepathy though it wasn't quite the same, what kind of match it was: A 10-man Smash-fest with no time limit. 'We've each got ten tries to take each other out as fast as possible. Let's hope I'm not so unaccustomed to this form that I can't do anything very good...'

He first targeted the infamous Solid Snake, who, as he ran forwards to meet the Keyblader, had an analyzing look in his eyes. He dodged past Maru before he could slash at him and grabbed him from behind in a chokehold.

"NGH!" Maru grunted, struggling. 'Why you--!!' But he couldn't even attempt to blast him off of his body, since he had to abide by the rules. He was thrown backwards, going to the edge of the ring. He grabbed it in time and pulled himself up, in time to see Snake get up after burying something of some sort. Maru had a feeling it was a bomb, so he jumped over where it was while he went forwards again. He landed in front of Snake, who was currently contending with an energetic green dinosaur, and had an idea. "Sorry," he muttered as he grabbed Peach, then, since he couldn't do his favorite back throw, spun the princess around by her arm before launching her mercilessly at the two fighting. She slammed into Yoshi, who almost slammed into Snake except for the fact the clever man sidestepped in the nick of time. As Yoshi hit the ground behind the man in black, he made a baleful whine as he hit the hidden Claymore mine. 'Thought so!' Maru smirked, seeing Yoshi fly off.

He then had to contend with Snake as he came forward and tried going hand-to-hand with him. Maru defended, then dodged behind him, using Reversal. After grabbing him, Maru gave him a quick beat using the pommel of his Keyblade before tossing him up and, to mix things up and confuse the stealth master, launched an Ember at him, firing from his palm like he does for normal psychic attacks. His eyes glowed a little as he did this. Snake flew a bit, but not far. He got up and saw Maru holding his Keyblade inside a small energy ball that he began to charge. 'Thank goodness these guys are letting me keep this move,' he thought as he charged up his Shadow Ball's human-form-incarnation of Shadow Ball Lock. He had to postpone it and use Reversal around Snake as he approached, since he had to stay on his toes.

The battle waged on in Smashville for a time, with the fighters switching to each other as they met each other. Finally, Maru had a chance to unleash his attack at Snake, which sent him flying. Confident he'd gotten him, and sensing an attack from the rear, Maru turned and, well, paled, as he realized he'd chucked his Keyblade as well. But in the nick of time, he blocked the hard veggie Peach chucked as the weapon reappeared in his hands.

Behind him, however, Snake had just barely grabbed onto the edge of the stage. He got up slowly, careful not to be heard or seen, then instantly hid in his cardboard box, which he somehow produced. Within its confines, while the other three fought each other, he used his Codec. (NOTE: I'm just putting this in because I want to add a bit of stuff in, mm-kay? So nobody complain how this can't happen in the actual game(to our current knowledge at the time of writing this, aka Oct.2007))

He decided to call Otakon. When he got him, Snake asked, "Otakon, who's this purple-haired guy with the big key?"

"That's the newcomer, Snake," Otakon replied over the frequency. "His registered name is Maru, and that's how he goes by. Interestingly enough, the data I've hacked from the registration desk's FighterDex tells me that he's undergone gene splicing or at least gene therapy."

Snake raised an eyebrow. "Really? He looks a lot different from a gene soldier, though. What's with that huge key?"

"That's something called the Keyblade. There's actually a few people who are allowed to use them, but only a couple have been previously seen using them. I guess he's a newly-chosen one, and a special one, too, with that form he's using. It's said to be the true form of the Keyblade, which only very special people can see. Not much else is known about him, except that he may be psychic. He looks pretty serious, so be careful."

"Don't worry," Snake assured him. "He looks like he'd be fun to fight a bit more, actually. You don't really get many smart ones like that." He terminated the link, then, while Maru's back was turned and his body only inches from the box, quickly stood up, throwing off the box, and tried another strangle hold.

Maru was smarter than this, though, and quickly Reversalled, grabbed him, and spun-threw him back. As Snake flew off-stage and was KO'ed, Maru smirked in knowing his throws were still pretty good. He later cursed on the recovery platform at his foolishness in keeping his back to the enemy.

The battle waged and waged, until eventually, when everyone had lost at least 3 of their stock, a Smash Ball appeared. As soon as it did, the crowd cheered and yelled, cheering for their side to get the Smash Ball first. As they heard them, the four fighters began to scramble for the floating thing. Maru growled. 'I can feel intense power coming from this thing!!' he thought. 'I've GOT to get it!! I think I have a feeling what it does!' He then looked around and had an idea, sort of like a Reaction Command, but more normal. He jumped on top of the head of Yoshi, then sprang up and jumped on top of Peach, then sprung to Snake, whose head he also springged off of. The latter two had jumped up into the air, and so Maru Meteor Smashed them down to the stage as he made his way up. Now, with much height, the Keyblader had time to hit at the ball as he got near it. He somehow was able to rapidly hit it enough so that in one try before landing, he got it.

As he fell, he felt the power of the Smash Ball diffuse into his being. He glowed white as he landed, and the arena dimmed into a dark red light around him. The crowd basically held their breath as they wondered what the newcomer would do with the power. Maru grinned and gave a quick glance over his shoulder as he landed on the edge of the ring, looking to where he knew Elliot was. Then, facing forward, he stood with his feet apart and yelled, "DRIVE!!"

Instantly, from the stands came a wash of light, and Figment squeaked as he fell through thin air to the bench while his fellow draconic friend had disappeared in order to assist Maru. As Elliot's power fused with Maru, people gasped and pointed. In a moment, Maru, who'd been floating slightly off the ground, landed and grabbed his left hand out to grab New Home. He'd become Mewtwo again, and he was actually grinning about it. He made the "Bring it" gesture by jerking his head back, then got into pose.

Snake, Yoshi, and Peach all gasped, and then realization passed across the Mushroom Kingdom denizens. Nothing was said, however, since Mewtwo was already beginning his barrage. He felt nearly invulnrable, like he couldn't be struck back, as he barrelled forwards and began attacking. He swung and swung and swung, launching a few kicks here and there. When he once grabbed Yoshi, he made him go bye-bye with a Gunshot Kick. He often used both Keyblades in unison, but mostly did rapid, strong attacks with each one individually. He managed to eliminate all three of them easilly, though all were pretty low in percentage, and even knocked down Snake a second time before the Smash Ball wore off. When it did, Mewtwo found himself Maru again, and Elliot reappeared where he was...on top of Figment, sadly, which resulted in an embaressing moment for the little guy.

After he was done with the Final Smash, Maru reverted back to his normal fighting style with a single weapon. The battle wore on and on, but Maru, having gotten a few free KO's with his Final Smash, had the upper hand. One that ended up pitting him and Snake in one final fight against each other. Maru had Sacrificially Meteor Smashed the previous remaining fighter, Yoshi, while Snake had just fallen below the point of salvation. Both returned to the stage with one stock remaining at the same time.

Maru smirked and twirled his Keyblade. "Ready for this?" he asked.

Snake just got into his stance. "I was born for the battlefield," he said back.

Maru raised his eyebrow. "That makes two of us," he said before they began their exchange of blows. First was a dash by Maru, shifting into a dodge to the rear to strike from behind. He was kicked in the face, sent flying back a little from its force, then grabbed and slammed to the ground by Snake's down throw.

Snake then backed off and readied a grenade. Maru saw this and braced himself mentally, preparing for it. Maru then began charging his own attack, Shadow Ball Lock. He had to cancel it and dodge backwards when the grenade came his way. He avoided it in time, then saw Snake come at him. The two breifly exchanged a few blows before Snake sent Maru flying off, then a Nikita after him. Maru righted himself, coming back towards the stage, and dodged the missile skillfully. He grabbed the edge and pulled himself up, attacking at the same time with a swing of his legs in a sidesweeping maneuver. He got Snake and then gave a strong, Smashing slash with his Keyblade. After the stealth expert was in the air, this time, Maru continued charging his attack.

He had it just in time to block an attack. After that, the two exchanged blows again. A while later, which involved a bit of throwing, both fighters were tired, high on with an amazing 150 each minimal! Maru was the most battered, but he wasn't going to give up in the slightest. He knew Snake was the same way. Snake and Maru stared each other down until both dashed forward, doged to the rears of each other, then charged again. They met in dash attacks, clashing away from each other, and Maru then tried a good hit. He got hit with a punch, but managed to avoid the next ones and counter with a few Keyblade swipes. Then, Maru got hit so that he was sent for the floating platform on the left end of the stage. He was hit in a way that he was righted still as he flew, but his back was to the platform. It was in midstrike that he remembered that Snake had been avoiding that platform for a while...'SHIT!' As soon as he was sent off, Maru launched his Shadow Ball Lock in a last-ditch effort. It flew off in a huge plume of fire as Maru's body hit the hidden Claymore Snake had planted. Maru sped to the right of the stage and finally, with an anguished cry, to the boundaries.

"GAME!!"

The stage landed, changing the arena back to normal. And the four fighters were seen on the pedestals, one appearing after another.

"In fourth: PEACH!!" J announced over the PA. Peach sighed and waved a bit, smiling despite her losing.

"In third: YOSHI!!" The green dinosaur made no noise, but waved to the crowd like Peach.

"And now...Who shall it be?"

Pikachu, Terroge, Figment, and Elliot all leaned in their chairs, holding their breath.

Finally, at the same time, Snake and Maru appeared on their pedestals.

"IN SECOND IS SNAKE, AND THIS GAME'S WINNER IS THE NEWCOMER, MARU!!" J shouted enthusiastically. As the crowd erupted in applause, Maru, a little dumbfounded, looked slowly to his left at Snake, who looked at him with a similar expression. Then both smirked and nodded to each other. Maru then faced forward and twirled his Keyblade around himself.

"No matter what happens to me, I'll always be able to fight," he said resolutely as he tossed his Keyblade up after twirling it around himself. He caught it with telekinesis, snapping it around him as he spun once to a familiar cross-armed, back-to-audience pose, floating the weapon a little in front. The others on the pedestals clapped for his victory respectfully. As Maru did his "victory dance," the victory theme for Pokémon worlders played in the background as everyone finally discovered from whence he came.

"It appears as if Maru and Snake had a bit of a close shave with each other," J commented. "After being launched, Maru released his attack, which hit Snake right on the nose, and the two flew back at the exact time. Maru won by a hair, since he had a higher percentage then Snake--but not too much. He won just barely by the fact that Snake was just closer to the right edge than he was. So, if this were judged by me, I'd say they tied, but that's the way things go!"

The crowd roared even more, and Maru smiled at Snake. The four combatants came down and shook hands with each other. Maru and Snake shook each others' first. "That was very well-fought, Snake," Maru complimented.

Snake nodded. "Not bad yourself," he replied, a respectful smirk on his face.

Then the others shook hands, or paws in Yoshi's case, and they moved off the field as the next match started up. When they went, Peach decided to run after Maru for a second. "Excuse me, Mr. Maru?" she asked in her light voice.

Maru looked over his shoulder at Peach, then stopped. "Yes, Princess Toadstool?" he responded.

Peach stopped by him. "You...You're not really who you look like, are you?" she asked. "You've been here before, haven't you?"

Maru smirked and nodded. 'More observant than I thought at first.' "Wondering when somebody'd ask," he said. "Yeah, it's who you think it is, but I can't do much about my current state. It's a long story. Just...don't go blabbing about it, I'd prefer," he added, sweatdropping. He still habitually wished to remain secret.

Peach nodded, then bowed. "It was nice fighting you again!" she said before leaving.

Maru smirked, then started off again. He decided to watch the next fight, and so went to the stands. When he got there, people clapped for him and congratulated him, or grumbled that he just barely won by a technicality, or whatnot. He was practically glomped after he found where Pikachu and Terroge were sitting, since the big black dragon leaped over to congratulate him with a mighty hug. "MRF!! T-Terroge!! Please!!" he laughed as he was squished to the creature's body. "Not in PUBLIC, at least!!" Terroge stopped, letting him down, and appologized, bowing his head, but Maru laughed and ruffled his black hair. "Don't worry, it's okay," he told him, and Terroge smiled again.

Pikachu grinned and pumped his tiny fists. "Mewtwo! That was AWESOME!!" he complimented him. "Looks like you've adapted to your human form pretty darn well!"

Maru smirked, sitting down beside Pikachu. Terroge sat on the rodent's other side. "It's still taking a while to really settle in, but I'm close," he said. "It helps that I was originally humanoid to begin with. And thanks," he added.

Pikachu smiled and nodded. "Anytime!" He sighed and looked forward as the next fight began, a 5-minute Melee between the heavyweights, Bowser, Donkey Kong, and newcomer King Dedede, at the new Metroid-world stage Norfair. The air grew considerably warmer, and Maru frowned at the thought of how hot he'd get with his cloak on. Pikachu looked a little concerned as he watched. "This stage reminds me," he said. "Samus, who generally comes pretty much on time and stays for a while, just came, had one fight, then left again, saying she had some important business to attend to. She looked different, too, when she came and left--her suit was slimmer."

Maru raised an eyebrow. "I wonder what's happened since I've been gone," he muttered. "Did she look different fighting?"

Pikachu tilted his head left to right. "Kinda-sorta, not really," he answered. "She was given a more familiar-looking suit, but a little different this time with some extra green lights on places. She only had one fight because she just wanted to at least leave her fighter trophy so that everyone would get their hot-chick-in-cold-metal-armor fix." Maru chuckled at that, and Pikachu smiled a bit, but his face fell as he went on. "Not only that, but I guess I should tell you something..." He looked forward at the match as he spoke. "You know how last year, you really didn't have to worry about arriving yourself?"

Maru nodded. "Yeah, actually," he said. "I was getting worried a while after getting the invite that they'd forgotten, or that I'd have to come myself. It even got to the point where it slipped my mind."

Pikachu nodded. "When I got mine, I kinda felt the same way, and had forgotten about it, too," he recollected. "I sure was lucky to end up here after that one night at your home city...and that's what I think is the problem, Mewtwo."

Maru raised his eyebrows, and Terroge felt that "Uh-oh" feeling. "You mean..."

Pikachu nodded. "The tournament hasn't officially started, because, at least I'm pretty sure, of the Heartless," he said.

Maru was taken a little aback, but recovered precisely one second later. "Well, that makes sense," he said, crossing his arms. "I mean, what with the worlds being in danger all the time now, and the space between them infected so badly with those damned beasts' ships, I suppose it's hard to send someone to get us." Behind him, Terroge frowned a little.

Pikachu nodded. "That's why they thought to, this year, for some reason, include a sort of 'Plan B,' which I don't know about much."

At this point, Navi flew out. "I think you mean the Navi-G that we had," she squeaked.

Maru, Terroge, and Pikachu looked at her in surprise. "Since when could YOU understand Pokémon?" Maru asked her.

"Since I got what little magical powers I have," she replied. "One of them is the ability to understand and make others understand any language. It's quite useful, but not much when you're dealing with big bad monsters who want nothing more than to kill you."

Pikachu tilted his head, but then shrugged. "Well, anyway, I guess you're right," he said. After a second, he tilted his head again and asked, "What's a Navi-G?"

Navi explained, "It's a Gummi piece that is used to open up pathways to new worlds. I dunno too much about it, but it's useful. I bet they included it in the letter as a last resort."

Pikachu nodded. "Well, that's the Plan B I was talking about," he said. "Apparantly, I hear that this Heartless ordeal has happened twice before. One incident involving them happened in a world close to this one, I think, so they must have decided to do things like this." He shrugged. "But I'm just worried that this whole fiasco might prevent Ash from coming...or at least that things might get worse in general...you know what I mean?" he asked, looking up with watery eyes. Maru nodded understandingly.

Things were silent for a bit, then Maru asked, after looking about for a while, "Why are there so many people here? Are they from this world, or...what?"

Pikachu shrugged. "I dunno," he said.

"Well, actually, most of them aren't, really," said a voice from behind them. The group turned and saw what appeared to be the Elite Beat Agents from before, but after a second, they saw they were completely different. For one, all three were teenage-height; and for two, they all looked different. The one in the middle, a tannish-skinned boy of average height and light weight with short messy brown hair and dark blue, wire-framed, soft oval sunglasses, as well as a lanyard with a set of house keys on it, smirked and crossed his arms. "It turns out this world's a lot like Traverse Town and Radient Garden in that it's a place that people who survive Heartless invasions end up," he said, his voice telling that he was the one who spoke after Pikachu did.

Maru raised his eyebrows as he looked them up and down. "Are you Agents?" he asked.

They nodded. "Yep, that we are," said the first one. He pointed to himself. "I'm BA-5 Agent Lock, lead."

"BA-6 Agent Meyers, right backup," said a Caucasian short-haired blonde who was a little taller than Lock, and who wore frame-less perfectly circular sunglasses reminiscent of the 70's or so. He was ever so slightly chubby, but was very close to average weight.

"BA-6 Agent Hunter, left backup," introduced the black, normal-height boy wearing a huge afro, a single gold hoop in his left ear, and a pair of those tacky, yellow-rimmed star-shaped shades that you see, probably mostly at a dollar store. He appeared just very slightly muscular.

All three posed, taking out mics. Lock held his and stood with it almost to his mouth while he pointed at Maru, while the other two lunged with theirs in hand while holding their free arm far behind them so that they resembled arrows. "And we are known as EBA's TWDT, Trans-World Division Team!!" they announced proudly. (Their mics were left off and were just for show, apparantly.) "...Okay, that's what we'd like to be known as, anyway..." Lock confessed, chuckling. They got up and put them away as the three pokémon sweat-dropped in front of them.

Maru sighed. 'In a world of many worlds, one must expect all...' He shook his head. "Well, what were you saying about this world being a hub for those whose worlds have been lost to the Heartless?" he asked.

"Well," said Hunter, crossing his arms, "apparantly, this world contains people almost randomly dropped off from many worlds, but seemingly mostly from worlds that many fighters here represent."

"For example," Meyers said, "there's a current debate as to whether a person on the Evening City Ouendan, Kai Do--er, sorry, Doumeki Kai (I forgot they use last names first), should fight. He is strong and imposing, and very interesting indeed, but nobody's ever seen him fight. The debate concerns others who have not been seen to fight when they still are allowed in, such as Captain Falcon when he first came. In fact, he doesn't fight in any way, and instead cheers people on to do things. But since he's been suggested, we, since we're from the same world, are here."

Lock raised an eyebrow. "Or maybe a better one would be that since there's people from the Pokémon world here fighting, and I've heard that another one is actually going to be here soon, a great deal of people from that world have ended up here." He pointed at Pikachu. "And anyone who loses their worlds and are tournament regulars like you would fall here," he added. "It's very odd, indeed. But that's the way things go in this world of worlds," he shrugged.

Maru nodded, arms crossed, as he absorbed this information. "Are people given homes here?" he asked.

Lock nodded, smiling. "Yeah, there's a ton of rooms for people to be in here," he said. "They're a lot like the fighters' rooms, but not as well-equipped; they don't all have the add-ons of their rooms, like hidden fridges and stuff. They have basically all that a good hotel room has--bathroom, bed, tv--though there's not much on here, but anyone who happens to have any DVD's or other movies with them are in luck--and, of course, a Nintendo Wii in every single room. Food is served beneath the arena and is also found in the fridge. There's not much to do here, though, except watch fights and other performances. Though," he added, looking a little worried, "since the whole Heartless thing kicked up, they've been unable to begin the actual tournament, so there's not many fighters arriving, and far less staying around. Some of the regulars have even just popped in and out, like Samus Aran and Captain Falcon."

"Although for those two, I suppose it's because they're currently on a bounty," Maru chuckled. "I suppose time in others' worlds doesn't stand still like it normally does, at least until the tournament actually begins?"

Lock shook his head. "Nope," he confirmed. "Though, nobody's really worried about that, since most of the worlds have disappeared anyway." He said that part quietly, face falling a little. 'He must have lost his world, too,' Maru thought.

"There's more than just standard fights that they do here," piped up Meyers, seeking to change the subject. "They have free-for-all matches that let participants from other worlds fight without restrictions--except that nobody can kill anyone--and test their strength." (Maru's ears perked up at this.)

"Yeah," Hunter said, holding a finger up. "They also have the traditional target tests, though not many since there aren't a lot of people around willing to try them out, oddly." (Maru wondered on that one.)

Lock smiled again. "And, since there are so many of them here, the Pokémon-worlders can participate in pokémon battles!!" he added. (Maru's and Terroge's eyes lit right up at this!)

Maru and Terroge grinned to each other. "What more perfect a way to try out battling with your newly-found ability to communicate properly?" Maru asked, and Terroge chuckled excitedly. Maru looked back at the Agents. "When's the next one--" he began.

"Now," answered Lock, pointing at the board. Everyone turned around and looked as it blinked, "Pokémon Battle Tournament starting in 5 minutes! Sign up closes in 1 minute!"

Maru and Terroge were off faster than anyone else could blink.

------

The tournament began, one of 16 trainers including Maru. Maru, of course, didn't want to lose the tournament, but he also knew that this was also a chance to see how different battling with Terroge would be now that the black pokémon was able to talk and act like a normal pokémon. 'I wonder how much of an edge I'll have with the ability to converse with my pokémon?'

Six battles later, it was Maru's turn. Taking over for J as announcer, Lock took the mic as he stepped onto the field(which, of course, had changed into Pokémon Stadium 2, with gimmicks turned off for the moment and the floating platforms no longer present). "Ladies and gents, this is the seventh bout in our tournament!" he shouted proudly. "Next up is a trainer from Hop Hop Hop Town, Danny!!" A youngster-looking boy with a blue cap waved as the crowd cheered for him. "He'll be going up against Brawl challenger Maru!" The crowd roared for Maru, who just crossed his arms and nodded, smirking. Lock faced Maru. "And how many pokémon have you got, Capey?" he asked.

Ignoring the name, Maru replied, "One, unless my Drive form--which is based off of a pokémon--is also allowed, so long as I can both remain in the form until either me or my opponent is knocked out and can go with my Keyblades." He noticed his voice was amplified, like the voices of the other trainers. This was so commands could be clearly heard.

Lock hmmed in thought, frowning. He whipped out what looked like a policeman's badge, talking into it like a communicator. After a few seconds, he nodded and placed it back in his jacket. "You'd have to go without the weapons, but otherwise you could use your Final Smash form as a second pokémon, the officials said," he explained.

Maru nodded. "That's fine by me," he said, then smirked. "I've been wanting some true hand-to-hand for a while, anyway."

Lock nodded and smirked. "Alright, then, this will be, as usual, an all-out battle, with a maximum of three pokémon per trainer, and no field gimmicks!" he announced. He stepped back and turned on a clip-on mic he had with, then brought out two flags of different colors like a normal judge. "Are both trainers ready?" Maru and Danny nodded. "Then 3! 2! 1! GO!"

"Go! Scyther!" Danny shouted, throwing a pokéball out which released the praying mantis-like pokémon. Scyther chopped the air with its bladed arms and let out a battlecry.

Maru smirked as he held up his black monster ball. "You prepared?" he asked it, then tossed it out. "Terroge! Come out, my friend!" The Light Ball burst with its characteristic ringlike flash of white light, and people gasped as Terroge was opened out onto the battlefield. He roared and punched the air with his two immensly long arms, then got into a stance: He stood with one foot to the opponent, gently swaying from side to side, drooping his arms down, clenching and unclenching his fists occasionally. His tail swished about, like a slow version of a ribbon dancer's ribbon making a snakelike path.

From all around the stadium, the sounds of pokédexes going off were heard. The chorus of various negative messages resounded throughout. But suddenly, Maru, who had expected this and had pushed himself to expand his awareness to lock onto all pokédexes, gasped. 'One of them is scanning Terroge!!' he realized. He then breifly decided to see who had it. When he did, he gasped. "P-"

"Scyther! Fury Swipes this thing, now!"

"SCY-SCY!!" ("GLADLY!")

Snapping his attention back, Maru ordered, "Terroge! Jump and use Stomp!" almost out of nowhere. 'Of all the people to be here now...! And with such technology! What fantastic luck!!' He looked down at his chest, seeing Navi peek out to watch. 'Navi won't have to worry about taking extensive notes on any Heartless Pokémon, now!'

Terroge, meanwhile, had jumped up and avoided Scyther's attack. "Sorry, Bug-type, but I'm gonna have to squash you!" he taunted to Scyther as he went up and started down with a large foot leading.

"Not if my trainer's got any sense!" Scyther spat back, standing still while awaiting orders.

"Scyther!! Stick your scythes up now!" Danny ordered almost right after Scyther was finished talking.

Grinning, Scyther brought them up. "Like so!"

Terroge and Maru sweatdropped as Scyther's blade arms stuck right into Terroge's foot, making the big pokémon roar and fly off, landing on his good foot and hopping in place while holding the other one. People all around laughed at this. "OWOWOWOWOW!!"

Maru smacked his forehead. 'Why didn't I think of that?!' he thought frustratedly. 'It was because of that man...dangit! Time to focus!' He clenched a fist. "Terroge, you've faced worse pain than this! Quit looking like a fool!" he shouted.

Terroge, blushing from the laughing, put his hurt foot down, wincing a little at the pain. "Sorry, Maru," he appologized.

"No, I'm sorry; I should have thought about a strategy like that, but I let my mind wander," Maru said back. He shook his head and pointed. "Well, let's retaliate with a good Mega Punch attack!" he ordered.

"Right!" Terroge charged forward, but started wincing at the pain. "Crud, this hurts!" he grumbled. He was going a little slower than Maru knew he could go.

"Scyther! Evade it and use Slash!" Danny ordered. (I HATE that move!)

'Crap, big baby's still got a tender foot,' Maru realized. 'I'll have to compensate somehow...it's a good thing he's got wings. If this has to become an aerial battle, then so be it!' After waiting until a good moment, right before contact, he ordered, "Spread your wings, Terroge!"

Scyther had gotten ready to evade, so when Terroge began gliding to him instead of running, he was ready for it. What he didn't compensate for, though, was Terroge's incredible reach. The punch was being charged as the Dragon-/Heartless-type came forth, and Scyther knew that his reach must be bigger than normal. However, he underestimated, and was struck. Danny gaped in horror at the immense blow that Terroge had inflicted.

Scyther was sent flying out of the ring, which actually now had a safety net around the base for these cases. Danny got to his senses and ordered, "Scyther, snap out of it and fly!" The pokémon heard him and righted himself, starting his wings up in a deep buzz.

"You know, you're not any pokémon I've ever heard of before," Scyther said, holding his abdomen. "What are you? What type?"

"Dragon and Heartless," replied Terroge casually, flying as well. "And before you freak out, I'm completely normal!! I'm not evil or anything, trust me on this! Maru made sure of that!" he added hastilly.

Maru sweatdropped. "Terroge, I know not many people here can understand you, but could you still please keep it down??" he asked nervously. 'I wonder if anyone's caught on that I can talk to pokémon yet...'

Danny raised an eyebrow. "You can talk to pokémon?" he asked wonderingly. Maru chuckled and replied that yes, he could. Danny gasped and got that amazed-little-kid look on his face. "WOW! How'd you learn? Could you teach me?" The crowd laughed a little at this.

Maru chuckled. "It's a natural talent, I didn't learn it, but let's get back into the battle, hm?" he asked.

Danny nodded. "Right, then!" He pointed. "Scyther! Use Fury Cutter, now!"

"YYAAAAHH!" cried Scyther as he charged forth, arms raised.

Maru grimaced at the speed. "Terroge! Sorry to say, but you're a lead balloon compared to him in the air! Guard it for now!" he commanded.

Terroge sweatdropped. "Gladly!" he replied, and held his arms up, crossing over himself as he was struck by the attack. "Nngh! You're not a weakling, yourself, Scyther!"

Scyther just kept going. It took Maru a second to realize that this was turning into some sort of combo. "Terroge, on your guard!!" he said suddenly, but too late.

"NOW, LIKE WE'VE PRACTICED!!" cried Danny, grinning.

Scyther disappeared, it seemed, and suddenly appeared above Terroge, scythes glowing silver. "Here's something I picked up recently!" he cried.

Terroge's pupils shrank as Scyther swung and let fly a shower of silvery energy bullets. "No way--!" he gasped.

Maru was equally shocked. "WHAT THE--!? Other pokémon can use attacks of that type?!" he asked, incredulous. "TERROGE!!"

But it was useless; Terroge was caught in the rain of energy bullets and couldn't react to the rear sneak attack by the rapid Scyther, who unleashed a powered-up X-Slash, sending the behemoth forwards a ways.

As Terroge fell forward, he and Maru said the same thing in voices of disbelief: "Sinister Sundown?!"

Maru shook his head and ordered, "Terroge!! Use--uh--Fire Punch?"

Terroge grunted as he landed on the field with a slam, then again as he turned, a bit weak, to his foe. "I'll try," he said strainedly, then, with a burst of determination, pushed himself up into the sky again. He flew top-speed to Scyther.

Danny grinned. "Looks like your pokémon's weak against that attack, Maru!" he said, crossing his arms. "So, Scyther!! Fury Swipes into that attack again after dodging!"

Scyther dodged Terroge's attack, which failed anyway, and then launched himself forwards at his side, beginning again on his slashfest.

Maru grimaced. "Oh, no, you don't!" he said. "Terroge!! Seismic Toss!! I doubt he's also got that ability, don't worry!"

Terroge growled and grabbed Scyther mercilessly. "You know, he said, starting to fly around in a loop, "that attack hurt a LOT!"

Scyther, squirming, grunted and retaliated, "Well, think of it as payback for the hit you gave me!"

"Yeah, but mine wasn't super-effective!!" Terroge finished his loops and soared at the ground. "And Maru's being nice, since this won't hurt a bit, will it?"

Scyther now gulped, looking at the quickly-approaching ground. "Urhmm..." he mumbled uneasilly.

"Well, let's SEE!!" Terroge said, throwing Scyther down and curving away before crashing himself. Scyther crashed into the ground, kicking up some dust. When it cleared, the green pokémon was struggling to get up.

"Th-That..." he grunted.

Danny looked scared. "SCYTHER!! Are you okay?!" he shouted.

Scyther grinned at his trainer. "...didn't hurt...a...biiiiit..." he finished, falling forward and spiral-eyeing.

Lock instantly held up his left flag. "Scyther is unable to battle! The round goes to Maru and Terroge!" The crowd cheered.

Danny looked a little concerned as he recalled Scyther. "Great job, Scyther! Take a VERY well-deserved rest!" When he was in his ball, Danny put Scyther on his belt and looked at Maru, frowning. "Awright, what kinda pokémon IS that?" he asked. "Is it even a pokémon?"

Maru sweat-dropped. "Errrr..." DING! He smirked. "I don't want to spoil the type for you," he stalled. "But I assure you, Terroge's a pokémon, just a very special type of pokémon." He looked up at the one in question. "Speaking of, how're you feeling, Terroge? Should we switch and give you a rest?"

Terroge, panting, grinned down at Maru. "I can...take it, Maru," he assured him. "I'm fine. Don't waste your energy when you could save it until later!" He landed and tested his formerly hurt foot. He grinned wider. "My foot's okay, now, too!"

Maru nodded. "Alright, if you insist," he said. He looked at Danny. "Well, send out the next one!"

Danny nodded, then thought. He grinned, looking at Terroge. "Either that thing's part Flying- or part Dragon- type, and I'm going to take advantage of that!" He pulled an Ultra Ball out. "Alright, then, freeze him in his tracks, Glalie!"

Terroge, since he was, indeed, part Dragon-type, sweatdropped and grimaced worriedly as the Ice-/Dark-type appeared. "Uuuh, okay, maybe--" he began, but Maru's crying of "YES!" behind him stopped him. With wild eyes, he turned to his trainer. "'YES'?! Are you stupid?! You know for a fact that thing can hurt me big time! I'm weak to Ice-type moves!!" he said incredulously.

Maru waggled a finger. "Have you forgotten your own type-trumping?" he asked.

Terroge tilted his head a bit. "Uuuh...Well, I know a lot, but I'm still a new pokémon to the world, so..." he trailed off.

Maru sighed. "Just don't worry and dodge any of the Ice attacks, and this'll be over in no time," he assured him.

Terroge nodded. "I trust you," he said, then got into stance.

"You guys ready yet?" asked Danny, tapping his foot. "Then let's start this off! Glalie, hit it with Ice Beam!"

"RIGHT!" Glalie shouted, charging the beam. He fired it at Terroge.

"Terroge, duck riiiiiiight..." Maru waited, then, right when it fired, said, "NOW!!" Terroge followed orders and ducked. The beam hit his long hair, though, and froze it halfway up.

Terroge blanched. "AAHG! My hair got freezer burn!" he wailed, then growled. "NOBODY touches my hair, y'oversized snowball!"

Glalie just laughed. "Aww, has pretty boy got a bad hair day?" he mocked.

Maru grinned. "Try a Rock Smash!" he ordered.

Terroge nodded and charged, using his crouched position to get a good boost. Paired with his immensity and impressive punching range, he was able to land a good, solid, fast Fighting-type powered right downwards hook onto Glalie.

However, Danny had shouted, "ENDURE!" right when Maru had finished his command, so Glalie--doubtless with not much HP remaining--was still floating. Danny grinned. "Now, Blizzard, while it's close!" he ordered.

To Maru's and Terroge's horror, the ice-and-wind attack struck the mighty pokémon point-blank. "TERROGE!!" cried Maru as Terroge was encased in ice. Maru clenched his fists, looking and feeling horrified. "TERRROOOOOOOGE!!"

Terroge's ice prison soon broke, and Terroge, after swaying, said, "Sorry, Maru..." and slammed, face-first, onto the stage's floor, spiral-eyed.

Lock whipped up the other flag. "Terroge is unable to battle! The round goes to Danny and Glalie!"

Danny smirk-grinned. "Well, THAT powerhouse is down for the count," he said. "Now for the next one--YOU!" He pointed at Maru.

Maru wasn't listening. He'd run all the way over to Terroge. "Terroge!" he said, skidding and lifting up the great head. "Are you alright?" he asked.

Terroge, faint but still concious, gave a weak smile. "S-Sorry, Maru," he apologized again. "I was too weak..."

Maru smiled at him comfortingly and understandingly. "It's alright, my friend, you had a tough fight. You're extremely strong, easilly lethally when you want to be, and a very gifted pokémon when it comes to battling. And remember, you're still relatively low-leveled..."

Terroge, crying behind tiredly half-lidded eyes, chuckled, making a rumble in his chest that could be felt by everyone in ten feet of him. "Actually, Maru, this is the second stage of my evolution," he confessed.

Maru raised his eyebrows. "Really? Well, regardless, those were tough pokémon you fought. Danny is a good trainer, despite his age," he complimented, looking at him.

Danny smirked. "Thaaaaaaank YOU!" he said cockilly.

Maru shook his head. "Well, Terroge, we can continue this pep talk later, since we've got a battle to go through still, and these millions of people aren't going to sit there and wait patiently." He held up his Light Ball. "Time for some rest, Terroge. Return."

Terroge smiled and closed his eyes, ready for sleep, as the white beam hit him, then brought him in. Maru put the ball away in his belt, stood up, and scampered to his place on the field. "About time!" Danny complained. "Thought you were gonna do something weird with that thing for a second there!"

Maru decided not to comment on that. "Right, then, I choose myself in my Drive form as my next--and final--pokémon," he said. He looked about. "So, uh, how should I do this?" he wondered aloud. As if on cue, a Smash Ball appeared in front of him, glowing like always in a rainbow of colors. Maru laughed. "Ah," he said, causing some people to laugh, then reeled back and punched the sphere. It broke across him, filling him with power. He instantly knew what to do. "NOW!" Summoning the power, he crossed his arms in front of him. Then, slamming them apart, he cried, "DRIVE!!"

Again, Elliot's essence came towards him from the stands and combined with the shattered-globe effect of entering a Drive form. As the light faded, Mewtwo stood in his red form, sans Keyblades. He looked at himself, grinning. "OOoooh, this is going to be fun," he said, then thought for a moment as he heard his voice was still amplified. "Wait, am I going to have to announce every single move I make?" he asked, sweatdropping slightly as he looked at Lock.

Lock raised an eyebrow. "Good point," he said, and whipped out his badge again. He looked up after a second. "Danny, do you want him to act like he's commanding himself? It'll look really silly," he warned.

Danny opened his mouth to speak, then shut it, grinning mischeivously. "I think it's fair that he embarresses himself. He DID use a pokémon I'm sure nobody here's ever seen before," he reasoned.

Sweatdrops appeared on many of the people there, especially a now pale-faced Mewtwo. "Uuuuuh...Well, tough noogies, Maru," Lock said, laughing nervously as he looked at Mewtwo.

Mewtwo blinked, disbelieving this, then sighed. "Oh, well," he said, "I AM pretty strong in this form, so it is only fair." He nodded and got into stance, his normal stance he adopted when he participated in the Melee tournament(where he later said they modified his fighter's trophy to make it as absurdly imbalanced negatively as we all know and despise it to be. Well, at least Mewtwo fans despise that trophy to be weak...). "Bring it!" he said, making the motion.

"Alright! Glalie, let's use Glare first!" Danny commanded.

Glalie gave a harsh glare to Mewtwo. "Yeh!"

Mewtwo grimaced as the glare, by rule of the move, decreased his stat, despite being unintimidated by it. 'He knows I'm going to annilate Glalie, so he used him to weaken me slightly! Oh, well, I'll still kick his ass.' He shook it off and shouted, "Tackle!" As he did, he launched forth and slammed his body into Glalie, which was, as he thought, so weak that that move was enough to knock him out. "Ow," he muttered as he massaged the side that he'd hit with. "That guy's hard."

"Glalie is unable to battle! The round goes to Maru!" Lock announced, raising the appropriate flag.

Danny recalled Glalie. "Good job, Glalie! Take a rest!" he said. Then, he looked hard at Mewtwo. "Hmmmm..." He took out his pokédex. "And no, I don't think this is cheating," he said before Mewtwo or anyone else could protest. Thankfully, though, to Mewtwo's immense relief, the pokédex had no availible information on him except type and name. "So you're able to transform into a Mewtwo, huh? Psychic-type...this picture is a bit different, though, but oh, well! Shiny pokémon happen all the time!" He grinned and brought out his next ball, a Great Ball. "Come on out, Gengar!"

Mewtwo stepped back as the Ghost type appeared in front of him and made his battlecry. Mewtwo grimaced. 'I might have some trouble after all,' he thought. 'I think my type has changed to Fighting in this form...we'll see.' It then occured that he had still to name this form. 'I'll think about that later!' he thought, getting ready.

"Gengar, start things off with Hypnosis!" Danny ordered.

Gengar grinned and stared at Mewtwo in the eyes. "Sleeeeep," he said, waving his fingers.

Mewtwo grunted. "Fight...it...!" he grunted, fighting to break eye contact, which, after the move began, was difficult to do, surprisingly. However, he didn't feel very tired at all. He grinned when Gengar saw the attack was uneffective. "I guess I've got Vital Spirit," Mewtwo mumbled. 'More proof that I'm a Fighting-type now!' "Now for my move!!" He took a moment to assess the situation, as well as the moves he supposed he could use.

'Let's see...I'm up against a Poison-/Ghost-type, I'm probably a Fighting-type, I'm without my always-hitting Keyblades, and I doubt that I'm able to use many non-Normal- or -Fighting-type moves,' he thought. 'And those moves don't work on Ghost-types...wait!' He looked at his tail. 'Of course! I'm definitely able to unleash Iron Tail in this form!' Before charging, though, he thought, 'Wait...Hey, a fake-out sounds like it's in order, here...I'll play dumb.' He charged forwards. "Tail Whip, with a spin for power!" he ordered aloud.

Danny laughed. "Are you stupid? Peh, Gengar, don't worry, this won't hurt a bit," he said.

Gengar grinned. "Oh, please, THAT'S going to work?" he asked. Mewtwo skidded and used the momentum to start his spin, swinging his tail out. As it passed right through Gengar, the Ghost-type-imbued pokémon laughed, putting his hands on his hips. "Gee, that tickles!! EEE-HEHEHEE!!"

"I'll hit SOMEday!" Mewtwo said, grinning as he kept spinning around. Thankfully, being a talented fighter, he was very resiliant to dizziness and was the only one not to puke when, one day at Nightsky City's annual carnival, the Tilt-a-Whirl went haywhire and the cars began spinning wilder than the Gravitron ride. He made sure to increase his speed of spinning each rotation, so much so that, after stopping to charge it up, he was actually doing a piroulette, sort of. (He'd decided to announce "Rapid Spin!" before the spin so that he didn't look totally moveless without his weapons.) After a few rotations of this, he heard Danny say something.

"This little dance is getting boring," he said. "Gengar, grab him and--"

"IRON TAIL!!"

Instantly, Gengar started crying in agony as an iron-hard tail, spinning around and hitting him at a high RPM for a non-mechanical sustained-speed spin, clobbered him. With each hit, he was spun around a bit in the opposite direction, and as he kept getting hit and hit, he began to spin as fast as Mewtwo.

"OWOWOWWOWOWOWWOWW!!" Gengar cried as he went faster and faster.

Resisting a "Round she goes" joke, Mewtwo instead cried out the name for this combination he'd created: "Take this: METAL PIROULETTE!!" 'A sissy sort of title, but with how lethal it is, I doubt anyone will be laughing for long when they see it in action...' he mused later on.

Finally, after a few seconds where he had Gengar matching his own speed, Mewtwo abruptly stopped, shook his head to releive his minor dizziness, and then waited until Gengar stopped. Not surpisingly, Gengar spun, spun, spun, and fell down, spinning still, and thus rolling to the left (he was spinning clockwise, Mewtwo counter) a little before slowing and stopping, spiral-eyed. This didn't mean he was out, though, in this case.

"Gengar! Can you get up? Er...without throwing up?" Danny asked, a little worried. He glared at Mewtwo, who gave a smirk. "What kinda move was that?" he asked.

Mewtwo grinned. "You've heard of contest battles if you've got a Hoenn pokémon, I take it?" he asked. Danny nodded, glancing between the two pokémon. "Then you know what a combination is, right?"

Danny's jaw dropped. "Well, smack me with a magikarp, you're right," he admitted.

"That can be arranged," joked Lock, and many people laughed. Lock looked at Gengar, who was still down. "Well, sorry to say, but not only is that poor thing dizzer than a top, but those hits probably did Gengar in," he said. He raised the Mewtwo-side flag. "Gengar is unable to not just battle, but probably stand straight for a week!" he announced, causing more people to laugh. "I'd say the round goes to Maru as Mewtwo, and the match goes to Maru!!" After a second, he added, describing what happened then, "AND THE CROWD GOES WILD!!" (As you can see, Lock was having a bit of fun as an announcer(he apparantly didn't get as much liberty as a narrator, apparantly).)

Danny cried in disbelief. "WHAAAAT?! Awww, MAAAAAAN!!" he cried, falling to his knees.

Mewtwo suddenly flashed, Elliot's essense flying out of him. He was Maru after the detransformation, but had now gotten used to it. He crossed his arms, smirking. "A battle's a battle," he said, "and it just so happens this one wasn't one you won."

Danny sighed and recalled Gengar. "Sorry about that quick loss, buddy," he said. "Take a rest." Afterwards, he smiled and stood up. "Yo, Maru," he said, going over and offering his hand, "good game."

Maru smiled and shook it. "Good game, indeed." The crowd cheered the good sportsmanship, and the two trainers left the field, going off on recovery platforms that the arena supplied for them.

"Now wasn't THAT exciting!" Lock said, bringing his handheld mic out again and turning off the lapel-mounted one. "Now, then, if all goes well, we might see a Brawler-vs-Brawler final match of Red versus Maru!" He waited for the crowd to cheer. "Now, then, are you ready for the next match?" He looked up at the board and raised his eyebrows. "Well, I'll be damned," he muttered as he saw the two there, then smiled and announced, "Would Kioshi and Travis report to the field!!"

As he sat waiting in the locker rooms that trainers were being held in before their matches--complete with small army of Nurse Joys--Maru sat back and sighed. After a while, he let out Terroge, fresh from the recovery machine. (Maru himself didn't need it, since he'd gone on to a duo of perfect rounds.) "Terroge, you did wonderful out there," he said, putting the Light Ball away. "And I have to say, you made quite an impression upon everyone!"

Terroge blushed and scratched the back of his neck. "Aw, thanks, Maru!" he said. "I tried my best, you know!"

Maru grinned. "I expected nothing less," he told him. "Are you aware that that's what I want every second of every battle--your best?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.

Terroge nodded. "Well, yeah," he said, like he was surprised he was asked that. "It's common sense to always do your best in anything--especially a battle!!" He grinned playfully. "At least, it is to me. I dunno about you."

Maru sensed he was being joked to, and grinned the same way. "Trust me, I have always tried my best in battle, and I'll never let myself do less!" he assured his friend. He ruffled the giant's hair friendilly. "Thanks for doing so great out there," he said.

Terroge responded, "No prob!" and gave Maru a great friendly lick, which left him chuckling.

"Excuse me? Mr. Maru?" came an old voice.

Many trainers, including Maru, turned to the sound and gasped. Maru smirked. "I actually wanted to talk with you," he said as the man in question came over. "You're the only one whose pokédex did something when aiming it at Terroge here."

The man smiled warmly and nodded. "Yes, and I have to say, I'm quite impressed with its type," he said, "and even moreso at the facts of its obvious friendliness, personality, and intelligence, and of you actually having captured and trained it."

Maru raised an eyebrow. "Yes, not many pokémon are like that, and those that are usually end up not being very nice," he said, turning in his bench (he'd been sitting with his back turned to the speaker) and placing a foot on it, resting an elbow on his knee. "So tell me, how did you manage to scan him like that?"

The man smiled and held up a pokédex. "With an add-on I recently placed on this," he said. He smirked and leaned forward so he could whisper in Maru's ear. "But the REAL surprise came when it scanned YOU," he whispered.

Maru raised his eyebrows, then chuckled. "I suppose I shouldn't have expected any less from the famous Professor Oak," he said.


	15. 10: Big Brawls

"...Wow. That's quite a tale you've got there," Professor Oak commented, closing his eyes and nodding with his hand on his chin. Maru had just told him a sort of quick, nutshelled, fairly up-to-date (as in, excluding some parts) version of his journey thus far when taking a break in his own quarters, to which he had been shown to soon after stepping outside the locker rooms. Professor Oak was sitting in a chair while Maru had the bed, and both were sipping some green tea. Terroge was sitting down, tilting his head curiously at the old man in the white lab coat.

Maru nodded. "It is, indeed," he agreed. "I must admit, though, that I never expected to see YOU, of all people, while it continued." He sipped his tea slowly.

Prof. Oak chuckled and smiled at Maru. "Well, I'm surprised, myself, that I'm fine," he said. "But I'm glad that I am. It's such an adventure out here in the worlds! Well, at least, this world. But since it's basically a nexus where other people from other worlds come and even fight each other, it's almost like going out into other worlds like you do!" He grinned and laughed. "I almost feel young again!"

Maru chuckled at this, then asked, "Then I take it you turned up here, correct?"

Oak nodded. "Yes, I did," he confirmed. "I was very glad to see that there were others from my world here, too, namely Pikachu, who recognized me."

At this, a sudden, annoying "HEY!" erupted from Maru's collar. This caused both guys to jump a little bit (Maru uttering a tiny "Mew!" in the process) and nearly spill their tea in surprise. Angrilly, Maru jerked his collar open with a finger to let the culprit out. "WHAT?!" he shouted at Navi. "You almost made us spill our tea! Could you have at LEAST tried to be quieter?!"

Navi sighed, obviously rolling her eyes. "Yeah, sorry about that, but Prof. Oak here reminded me that we've still got a few battles to do, you know," she said. "Pikachu would like to see them, right?"

Maru and Terroge froze, glanced at each other, then started to scramble around to get back to the locker rooms. "Crap! I completely forgot all about that!" Maru grumbled before quaffing the rest of his tea. "I'm sorry about this, Professor..."

Oak just smiled nervously and waved a hand. "Don't worry, it's okay," he said. "Just go and try your best."

Maru nodded. "Thank you. And thank you, Navi, for reminding me," he added before the fairy could let out another annoyed, annoying, loud sound.

Navi nodded, or tilted forth and back, and flew back into her spot in his collar.

'I still haven't gotten a chance to talk to Oak about the 'dex he had,' Maru complained to himself as he got Terroge back into his ball to get there faster. "Er, do you want to come and watch, or are you fine here? I'll leave the door unlocked..."

Oak smiled and said, "I'll be fine here. It was nice talking to you! Hope you win!" he said. "Go, go!"

Maru nodded. "Thank you. Farewell!" With that, he shot out like a rocket.

Maru barely made it in time. He got there just when he heard the last call for him to come. He came in, apologizing, then faced his opponent, a girl named Ginger. He used Terroge and himself, again, and, of course, won. He had to use himself again, but Terroge lasted a lot longer. The two were becoming quite a team. This time, Maru waited in the locker rooms.

Prof. Oak knew that Mewtwo was a lot smarter than most people, and would probably stay in the locker rooms, or at least SOMEwhere near the arena. Therefore, he decided to venture out and find him. He asked where people saw him go and went.

Maru sensed his approach and looked up. "Oh! Decided to come and watch?" he asked him.

Oak tilted a hand. "Sort of, not really," he said. "I think I know of a good spot we can go to chat that's fairly alone and near the ring, if you'd like to continue our conversation."

Maru raised his eyebrows at this and said he'd be happy to. So, the three--Maru kept out Terroge again--went and found a little balcony that had very little traffic. Terroge would probably intimidate most of the people coming, anyway. Once there, they began talking again.

"So, Maru," Oak said, hands behind his back. "You look like you want to know something. Go ahead and ask, please."

Maru, leaning on the wall with one foot on it and his arms crossed, started a little at the observation. He fought blushing and queried, "What's that pokédex you were using?"

Oak chuckled. "I thought that's what you were getting at," he said, and brought it out. The model looked similar to a flip-open cell phone, and was around the same size. It was red. Oak flipped it open and turned it to show Maru. "This thing's something I've been working on ever since I heard of what those wretched things that ate our world are called, the Heartless," he explained. Maru gently took it and examined it. The buttons were much like a normal cell phone, but less--easier to use. + directional pad, number keys, confirmation and cancel keys. Pretty much it; simple, like a good interface should be. Oak continued, "It not only works like a normal pokédex, but it also catalouges information on the Heartless and their relatives, the Nobodies."

Navi popped out. "What, better than me?" she asked.

Maru chuckled a little. "I never introduced you to Navi, Professor," he realized, and held his hand out. Navi took her cue and flew to hover over his palm. "She's from Link's world, if memory serves correctly...?"

Navi nodded. "Yep! I dunno if the Link here's the same guy, but at least he's from my world..." she trailed off before remembering her manners. She "bowed" to the Pokémon Professor. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Professor Oak."

Prof. Oak smiled and bent over to look at her closer. "My, I've never seen a fairy before," he muttered. "Fascinating."

Navi sweatdropped. "Erm...could you...er...not go all hypnotized scientest guy on me, please?" she asked nervously.

Oak jerked back and blushed, chuckling nervously and rubbing the back of his head. "Sorry about that," he said. He cleared his throat and regained composure, standing straight again. "But with that pokédex, the main feature is that it can scan pokémon instead of having to have the data already availible. However..." He looked a little sheepish. "It's not quite as good as I'd like to admit."

Maru raised an eyebrow as he played around with the device. "I see," he said. "You still cannot get it to scan Heartless and Nobodies separately from pokémon." His eyes and the phone-like pokédex prototype begam to glow. "...Hmm...I think I can try my paw at this," he said after a few seconds.

Oak raised his eyebrows and widened his eyes. "You...You can use your psychic abilities to scan a computer?!" he guessed.

Maru nodded, halting the use of his powers. 'I'm really coming along with them.' "Correct. It's a handy little skill I developed when I was building my palace on New Island, way back when I was the epitome of foolishness. I had to build myself a computer system, and it helped me when I was figuring out what was going on. I basically find and take a look at the core programming and scan for what doesn't fit, then I find it and know what needs to be done."

Oak smiled. "Well, that is indeed a useful-sounding ability," he commented. "It would help a lot when I'm programming future pokédexes, that's for sure!" He laughed. "I'd appreciate it if you could fix it, but I don't think you should at the moment."

Maru raised an eyebrow in curiousity, then gasped as he saw "Terroge" on the screen as he was flipping through it again. "I see," he muttered.

Oak nodded, smirking. "I realized, sitting in your room, that you might need that," he said. "I'm sad to say that it doesn't have that much when it scans a pokémon. You'd have to catch it so that it can use a special feature found in all balls that also allows the pokémon to hear what trainers are saying before even coming out. It uses this feature to give a full scan on the pokémon and analyzes it, much like how normal pokédexes do the same to make sure that it's got the latest information."

Maru nodded. "So I'd have to register this pokédex under my identity so that it can access my pokémon's data, correct?" he asked. Then he frowned. "But, wait..." He brought out the Light Ball. "I don't know if mine would work when it's scanning my pokéballs. Not only is this thing something I made with my own knowledge completely from scrap--I didn't use a normal pokéball as a base, since it's too weak--this has been imbued with the Keyblade's power and become a Light Ball, which is able to make a Heartless-type pokémon lose its Heartless influence and become a normal...relatively...pokémon." He sighed, putting a couple fingers on his temple. "I still can't really believe that that's true...a new pokémon type..."

After the battle with Cardixa, Maru never did get a chance to ponder about the fact that his pokémon was also a Heartless still. The answer Terroge gave to Scyther during the first battle there confirmed to Maru that, indeed, he was of a new type. "Terroge," he said, catching his attention. "You mentioned before that you were part-Dragon-, part-Heartless-type, right?" Terroge nodded. "Well, what exactly do you mean? Are you really still half Heartless?"

Terroge frowned and looked down a little. "Yeah," he said (Maru translating to Oak, since he thought he should hear it, too.), "I am. I'm sorry, really, but..." He held a paw up and looked at it with sorry eyes. "I...I can still feel the power of darkness flowing through my veins...but...I can feel I actually HAVE veins to begin with..."

After Maru translated, Oak put a hand on his chin. "So Heartless don't have veins?" he asked.

Terroge shook his head, wild hair flopping around as he did so. "No, we don't," he confirmed. "We're just beings of pure darkness, that's it. That's why we don't bleed when we get hit by weapons that are bladed that aren't the Keyblade, which never causes bleeding, anyway." He shivered. "Ugh, I wish I didn't have to talk like I'm one of them..."

"You're not," Maru said. "You're a Heartless POKÉMON, not a Heartless." He smiled. "You've got a heart now, right?"

Terroge looked down a moment and was silent so long, Maru was afraid he was wrong. Then, in a small voice, the black pokémon uttered, "Yes...Yes, I DO have a heart..."

Maru smiled wider and patted his huge pokémon on the head. "Thought so. So don't think that you're still a Heartless. You're part, but not entirely."

Terroge nodded, smiling weakly. "Yeah, I guess you're right," he said. "Thanks. But it just still feels weird...especially when I'm fighting other Heartless...But...will I ever fit in with other pokémon?" he asked. "There's never been a Heartless-type pokémon before, right? So how can anyone get used to me?"

Maru laughed, then translated. "I'M used to you," he pointed out, putting a palm on his chest. "And you've seen how I am, right?"

Terroge chuckled. "Yeah, guess I have!"

Oak smiled and stepped over. "Don't worry about if other pokémon will get used to you or not," he advised the Heartless-type. "I've seen some pretty snubbed pokémon that usually get befriended by some kind hearts. Don't worry--" He gave a full smile. "--you can count on other pokémon liking you as long as you're not afraid to show that you DO have a heart."

Terroge raised his thick eyebrows, then smiled determinedly, though Maru could see he was starting to feel a bit emotional in there. 'Boy, he's a lot more sensitive than I thought...' "Right, Mr. Oak!" he said. "Thanks! I'll be sure to show that I have a heart! I've got one, so I might as well use it, huh?"

Maru sighed, nodding, as he translated. "That's right," he said. "And it's 'Prof.', not 'Mr.', when you're talking to someone with a Ph. D."

Terroge tilted his head. "What's a Ph. D.?" he asked.

Oak didn't need translation to know what Terroge was asking and laughed. "You're a very interesting pokémon, Terroge," he commented.

Maru nodded. "That he is," he agreed. He flipped out the pokédex. "Speaking of, back on subject, I assume you want to have this kept so that it could scan data on Heartless-type and, presumably, Nobody-type pokémon?" he asked.

Oak nodded. "That, and Heartless and Nobodies themselves," he added. "The problem is, you'll have to enter in detailed notes of observation when it comes to the latter two. It can store the information on them as well as a 3-D model, but it can't scan them as well as it can pokémon."

Navi chirped, "That's where I come in!" Everyone's heads turned to her. "I'm the person in charge of keeping a chronicle of Maru's journey, and I've been keeping tabs on the Heartless and Nobodies we've faced. I have the ability to take a look at monsters and even figure out their weaknesses, as well as the fact I know about a great deal of them already. I helped Link on his adventure--my Link, not the one here, I don't think--by supplying him with tips on the various monsters. I couldn't figure out one guy's weakness, but after that, I've gained that ability on my own." She bobbed up and down in pride. "I'm pretty sure I can use that thing and keep the records of them straight and keep track of things I notice. I mean, I'm sure I can figure it out...and it's small enough that I can probably use it easily."

Oak smiled and nodded. "That'd be great, Navi!" he said. "I see what you meant with that question earlier. So, no, it can't record them down better than you can, not by a long shot!" He chuckled.

"Longshot? Ooooh, that thing was FUUUN!" Navi reminisced, tilting up as she remembered. "Tee-hee...BOING!!" She chuckled to herself while the others sweatdropped at her.

'I always attract the weird people,' Maru thought, sighing. "Well, Professor, what do you want to do with this right now?" he asked, holding up the pokédex.

Oak smiled and reached for it. "I'd like for you to have it, after I tweak it to register the Heartless type," he replied after getting it back. "If you ever catch a Nobody-type, come back and let me register it, too. I also have to see if I can make it stop that annoying problem with the Pokémon-Heartless/Nobody seperation."

"I can probably fix that before I leave," Maru estimated.

Oak nodded. "Thank you. But I can get it all registered for your use while you're battling. And, yes, I think it should work with your homemade pokéballs. If not, then I guess you'll find a way to make it, huh?" He chuckled.

Maru nodded. "Yeah, I will, if I must," he answered. "I'd like to know as much about these new pokémon as I can...because I doubt they're natural."

Terroge shook his head. "I doubt I'm natural, too," he said. He crossed his arms and pouted a little. "If I could just remember what happened a little before I fought you in that one world, I'd glady help...but all I remember is being told by SOMEthing to go and attack anyone I see."

"Must be whoever's controlling the Heartless this time around," Maru muttered.

Oak smiled sheepishly. "You're...going to be leaving soon, aren't you?" he asked. Maru looked at him and nodded. Oak sighed. "Well, I actually was wondering if I could maybe sit down and interview you...for...well, obvious reasons," he admitted, blushing.

Maru sweatdropped, blushing a little. "Er...Um...Yeah, I...know what you mean..." 'He wants to get information on me, Mewtwo...' He gave a forgiving look. "That's alright, I understand entirely, but..." He looked down, going into that dark, no-eyes-visible look Ash sometimes had when he was getting serious. "No. I'm sorry to say this, but I can't. It's enough that some pokédexes know about me, and that I'm the mysterious missing #150 on others. I wish for as few people to know about me as possible. You're an exception--I can trust you because of the way your research has ended up helping both people and pokémon, and you're also kind-hearted and able to keep a secret." He shook his head and raised it to look at him in the eye. "But I can't do it. I would, if it were not for the fact I am still the only one of my kind and just wish that I remain a secret to the world...well, our world." He looked off at the battlefield where two trainers were currently battling it out. "I hope you understand," he said quietly.

Oak smiled and nodded. "Yes, I expected this," he said. "That's quite alright, Maru. I was just curious."

Maru nodded. "Thank you." He paused for a moment. "I will finish my battles down there and you will register the pokédex for my usage, correct?" he reviewed. "Then I shall be able to collect data on Heartless- and Nobody-type pokémon."

Oak nodded again. "Yes, that's the plan," he said. The crowd roared as the battle ended. Maru lifted off the wall and Terroge stepped aside. Oak smiled at the two pokémon. "Good luck, you two," he bade.

Maru nodded. "Thank you, Professor," he said. "C'mon, Terroge."

"Right behind you, Maru!" Terroge chirped, and the two walked off.

Oak watched them go off, smiling. "What a unique pokémon," he commented, though it wasn't certain which one he was speaking of.

- - -

"Fly!"

"ROGE!"

"Grab it with Vine Whip!"

"GROWTH!"

Terroge took to the sky as he fought against a young girl's tangrowth. He had survived the first round and was still doing well. 'I'm getting better during these battles,' he thought. 'I'm able to survive longer.' He dodged a vine and stayed aloft, about to dive, essentially entering stage two of Fly.

The final battle of the tournament took place on the Rock-type field, minus the scenery, the excessively big mountain, and the Hidden Mickey. (YES! I kid you not! Look closely on the rock field, where there are the cacti all around, and find one with three circles in a group and look at it with your camera at an angle for a bit. I was so frikking shocked at this when I found it out; even if it was unintentional, it's still pretty cool.) (It appeared that the Brawl people melded both Pokémon Stadium stages into one for this tournament and had decided, just for the final round, to prove it.) Maru and Terroge were fighting against a young female trainer on her second pokémon.

The girl trainer pointed at Terroge. "Quickly! Hit it with Bullet Seed right in the eyes!!" she ordered. She had longish brown hair under one of those poofy hats like workers during the Great Depression might have worn (this one being red), big green eyes, an open yellow blazer, a light red shirt underneath, a grey miniskirt with gold stripes down the sides, and blue and white shoes.

Maru smirked. 'That's a physical projectile--if I'm thinking right, Terroge's special ability ought to kick in...NOW!' he thought, timing it so that it was right when the attack was about to collide.

Terroge instantly disappeared seconds before contact, teleporting a little to the side of and right near Tangrowth. "THANKS!" he shouted as he slammed into the blue-vined pokémon. He caught himself on the ground, skidding forth a bit, before leaping backwards to in front of Maru.

The girl trainer looked in shock as the super-effective Fly attack had knocked out Tangrowth. "Wh...HEY!!" She anger-veined and pointed at Maru as Agent Lock declared Tangrowth unable to battle and the round going to Terroge. "CHEATER!! What the heck IS that thing?! What did it do?! Tell me!" she demanded.

Maru shrugged. "Truth be told, I have absolutely no idea," he confessed.

The girl crossed her arms. "You can talk to pokémon, right?" she asked. Maru nodded. "THEN ASK IT!!" she screamed like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

Maru raised his eyebrows, then face-palmed. "Oh, man, don't I feel dumb...I never even thought of that before this battle...So obvious!" He looked up at Terroge. "Terroge, what the heck IS that ability? It's not an attack--I never ordered anything apart from Fly."

Terroge shrugged. "I dunno," he said. "I mean, I KNOW, but it doesn't have a name. It's...sort of like a self-made upgrade to an ability that my first evolution has, which I still technically have. What it does--and I think you should explain this aloud--is it has me teleport away as soon as a physical projectile, like seeds in this case, comes within an inch of my body, giving me a welcome chance to give a strike as soon as I teleport out, which, by my special 'upgrade,' always puts me nearby the pokémon--or person, perhaps--who launched the attack." Maru translated as his pokémon spoke.

Maru thought a moment. "Does it always work?" he asked. Terroge nodded. "Then you could avoid the most sure-hit of attacks, even if you were actually shot at..." He thought a moment before coming up with it and banging his fist in his palm. "Alright! Just for now, at least, why not we call this ability Bullet Dodge?"

Terroge nodded, smiling, then thought of something. "Crud! B-But it won't work if I'm Locked-On or something," he added.

Maru sighed. "Well, that's one good way to foil it...Lock-On still works, then. But I wonder if some things that aren't really projectiles..." he muttered, stopping himself before he told the enemy how to win.

The girl trainer pouted. "Well, I guess if it's an ability, albiet a cheap one, then it's not really that big a deal," she grumbled. She smirked. "But I think I'm DONE playing around, now! C'mon out, Sally!" She threw a Great Ball and released a salamence...one that appeared much bigger than normal.

Maru sweatdropped at the size of the thing, seeing as it was big enough so that her--he could tell--trainer could take a nap on her back with as much area as a double bed. "Th-That's a...well-fed Dragon-type," he commented.

The girl smirked and caught the Great Ball as it returned to her hand. "Well, yeah," she said. "Sally here's a bit of a rarity, and, MAN, am I glad! We haven't lost a Gym battle yet!" She proudly patted the hindquarters of the massive dragon.

Terroge gawked. "Th...That thing's...she's...but..." He shook his head and smoothed then pulled on his hair with a huge paw, eyeridges together in worry. "And I thought -I- was big," he muttered.

"'I thought -I- was big?' Well, I did, too!" Maru said, holding his arms out to Sally. "She's EASILY 15 feet long!!"

Terroge frowned. "I wish I could evolve...Then I'd be able to wrestle her pretty good..." he muttered. In an undertone, he added, "She looks like she'd be a good sumo opponent, honestly..."

Maru gave a half-eyed glance at the comment. ''Oh, I DARE you to say that louder,'' he sent to him.

"Enough! Sally!" The girl thrust her hand out. "Let's get this over with!"

"Ready, then? Terroge versus Sally the Salamence! Round 3...GO!!" Lock said, waving his flags down.

"Extremespeed!" the girl ordered.

Instantly, Sally disappeared in a flash.

Maru was impressed by the speed of such a huge creature, but kept his cool. "Brace yourself!" he told Terroge.

Terroge crouched, arms covering him, as he took a defensive stance. A split second later, he got struck from the side by Sally's Extremespeed and grunted in pain from it. "Ow...That hurt..."

"Retaliate with Dragon Claw!!" Maru ordered.

"Right!" Terroge launched himself forward as Sally reappeared where she was before.

Sally grinned. "Counter!" she called.

Terroge and Maru gritted their teeth. ""TOO LATE!!"" they said in unison as Terroge, who had begun swinging when the Counter command had been issued, struck the blue and red beast. He dealt damage, and a grand amount, he saw, but Sally leaped forward and struck him with a spinning tail strike that could take out an elephant.

Terroge was sent flying and rolling along, like a ragdoll, towards his trainer. Maru gritted his teeth as he saw this, holding an arm up. "!!" He thought fast, then tighted a fist and nodded. He spread his body out as if he was about to catch him moments before the big guy hit. People gasped as the two skidded back fast and hard. But, when the dust cleared, they saw that Maru had used telekinesis to help him in stopping Terroge. When they had come to a complete halt, he gladly released the psychic ability, holding his head afterwards. 'DAMN, this guy's heavy!!' "Terroge! Are you okay?" he asked, trotting around to his head.

Terroge chuckled, weakly opening an eye strugglingly. "I guess...this means...I...am getting a bit stronger..." he muttered before flopping his head down, spiral-eyed.

Lock held up the girl's side's flag. "Terroge is unable to battle! Sally wins the round!"

The girl leapt for joy. "YES!! Good job, Sally! You're alright after that Dragon Claw, right?" she asked.

Sally looked back and nodded. "I'm fine, Nikki," she said in a deep, yet definitely feminine, voice(in pokémon language, of course). She smirked. "It IS just a scratch," she joked.

Nikki wiped her brow, chuckling. "Point, there," she said.

Maru raised his eyebrows after telling Terroge he had done well and putting him back in his ball. "You can understand pokémon, too?" he asked.

Nikki grinned. "Yep! Well, at least, I can understand Dragon-types. Which means I could actually hear everything your Terroge said, by the way. Prolly a good idea you told everyone else, though, so you didn't get busted by the League for possible foul play," she added, smirking.

Maru blinked, then groaned. "Oh, come on..." 'She just let me totally waste time...we could have both explained afterwards...' He shook his head and stepped to the field. "Well, I guess it's time you get knocked off your high horse," he said, cracking his knuckles. "I call myself to the field!" He then broke into his Drive form, minus his keyblades again.

Lock smirked. "Well, then, the final battle between Maru and Nikki's Sally begins now!" he cried, thrusting his flags down.

Mewtwo gave the "come on" gesture.

Sally half-eyed him. "Cocky..." She sighed and shook her head. "Nikki, let's kick this guy's tail, please?" she asked.

Nikki grinned. "That's the plan," she said. She pointed. "Alright! Sally, use Rock Tomb!"

'Rock Tomb?! Salamence can use that attack?' Mewtwo thought, watching as Sally stamped her front feet down hard and launched, from the battlefield, four rocks towards him. As they came, he wondered what he should do, since they were coming in fast. Thankfully, he felt a chance, despite not having a single Keyblade out. "Alright!" he said as he jumped up. "GUNSHOT KICK!!" he cried and launched a reeled-back kick at one rock, smashing it. Still in the air, he launched a quick Iron Tail at two others, and finally bravely caught one, taking a bit of damage, and landed on his feet, facing away from Sally, before spinning around and using Rock Throw. The huge boulder slammed into her body.

He then, after taking a bit of a breath, dashed forwards. "My turn!" he announced, then leaped up. "BOUNCE!" He landed on top of Sally's head before launching upwards again, slamming her down to the floor with both powerful legs, backflipping out again. 'I think it's safe to assume that, by now, I've realized that easilly the most lethal parts of my body are my legs when I can't use my brain and its psychic power,' he mused as he went through this. As he went towards the arena again, however, he wasn't completely out of the woods.

"SPIKES!!"

Quickly, while her head was on the ground, Sally spat out a bunch of spikes. Mewtwo yelped and tried to fly away instinctively, but found that he couldn't, since the Drive form he was in wouldn't allow it. "OH CRA-AAAAAAAUGH!!" He landed on the spikes, feet first, then jumped back to a place away from the spikes to sit and quickly extract them. 'DAMN, that fuckin' HURT!! These HAVE to be bigger than normal Spikes...' "Nice save," he couldn't help but comment. He raised his eyebrows at the big dragon now stomping towards him. "How the heck did you do that?" he asked her.

"Wouldn't YOU like to know?" she asked, standing over him.

"Crunch!"

Mewtwo cursed and tried to evade, but he still had spikes in his feet, so he faltered for a second, somehow not able to think about utilizing his tail and arms as surrogate feet. In that moment of time, he was snapped up by jaws that could eat him alive, being, well, crunched. Hard. His body perpendicular to the main direction of the mouth, as well as having only his arms, tail and legs sticking out, he yelled in pain. 'I'm losing to a girl whose cheap trump card is a supersized salamence...What gives?!' he complained. 'I'm better than this!' He gritted his teeth and tried to bend over and reach his feet. 'Gotta remove these spikes, since I can't fly...otherwise I won't be able to fight as well...As I realized before, my legs are essential in this form...' He tried to reach, and was successful for only a few to be scraped off--not enough, though. 'Dangit!' he shouted in his head, gritting his teeth as he found he could reach no more. 'Maybe with my tail, I could--'

"Now!! Dragonbreath!!" ordered Nikki.

Mewtwo widened his eyes. "What, point-blank?! How low--!!"

Sally narrowed her eyes. "We fight like warriors, mercilessly," she described, throat glowing green inside her mouth, then tossed him up in the air and blasted him straight upwards into the sky. Mewtwo, yelling, was kept aloft in the green flames for a full three seconds before falling down, charred, onto the arena (the huge pokémon had moved aside). He hit the ground and remained still. Sally lowered her head to the blackened body, smirking. "And some warrior YOU are," she added. "Too easy."

A few seconds passed, then Lock raised his flag.

A thought occured to Sally as she narrowed her eyes, smirk fading. "Wait, this WAS too easy..." she muttered, suddenly tense, gritting her teeth.

"Maru is unable to battle! Nikki wins the bat--" Lock had begun, but he stopped when, suddenly, Mewtwo shot a paw out to grab one of Sally's teeth before she could back away in time (she having so helpfully opened it in surprise as she began to back away).

"Not...yet..." He slowly stood up, holding firm as the salamence fought to free her head. He had somehow taken the time in the air before, when being Dragonbreathed, to remove the remaining Spikes. He was still holding her, staying in one spot, and now grabbed her with two paws, switching his grip so that he just grabbed the sides of her head as best as he could. He then, in an amazing display, began to spin around, more than a ton of pokémon following. First, she had to step along, then she slid, then, as Mewtwo went faster and faster, she began flying through the air, yelling in fright at this all. "SEISMIC..." Mewtwo began and moved towards the center of the arena. He then, spinning her as fast and hard as he could, crouched and, with all of the strength his legs could muster, jumped up. He tilted his body a bit as he did, still spinning. He flew high in the air, at least thirty feet, slowly, and as he tilted, it looked like he was some sort of broken propeller toy. (The high height had been gained thanks to his spinning--he had begun to tilt the spin just a little bit upwards so that the momentum assisted in gaining maximum altitude.) "...TOSS!!" he cried, and launched Sally as soon as he was perpendicular with the arena, her only a few feet from it. He launched her over his shoulder, headfirst. She careened down and, her immense size working against her, crashed with a tremendous sound and crater. Mewtwo landed shortly afterwards on top of her, though clouded by dust. When it cleared, he stood, panting, on her stomach as he looked into her eyes. Yes--amazingly, she was still concious, and was lying on her back.

She grunted, "Y...You..."

Mewtwo sighed and shook his head. "Apart from 'are tired as hell,' or 'are a hurtin' Brawler,' or 'are really frikkin' pissed that your cloak got burned,' 'You' are...?" he said. (His cloak was cindered up to halfway down his shoulderblades. The other clothing he had on, which consisted of cuffs on his wrists and ankles, were full of burnholes, but his cloak was in the worst shape.)

Sally raised her eyeridges a little at this, panting, before smirking. "You...are...truly a...magnificent fighter..." She chuckled, panting harder for a second afterwards. "Like...every hitmon pokémon...and a machamp...rolled into one...deceptively strong...package..." She let her head lie back. "I..." she tried to say, but couldn't get out anything more out except, "Ow," before fainting.

Nikki gawked at her friend. "...Sally...?" she asked, hopping down to look at the head the size of a Buick. The great eyes were spirally. Nikki put her hands to her own mouth, then sighed and set them on her pokémon's forehead, smiling that losing-trainer smile. "Good job."

Mewtwo, meanwhile, panted at his opponent, considering her compliment. ''Like every hitmon pokémon and a machamp rolled into one'' he repeated (not telepathy). '...All the hitmons...' He looked at his body and smirked a little. 'Well, I finally have a name for this form. This shall henceforth be known as my Hitmon Form.'

Lock laughed, shaking his head. "Well, never saw THAT one coming! Sally is unable to battle, making Maru the victor!" he declared, holding up Mewtwo's side's flag. "Thus, Maru wins the round and the match!" The crowd cheered. Holding a hand to his ear, the Agent added, "That is, if there isn't any objection to the officials..." The cheering died away instantly and a few moments passed. He then smiled and held Maru's flag up again. "Well, they say that he made the move before I finished declaring the battle officially over, and that, since it only knocked out Sally, the move was still within Leauge move strength regulations! Maru wins!!" The crowd cheered again.

Mewtwo smiled weakly, said, "Good," and promptly fell backwards on top of Sally's stomach, spiral-eyed himself. He remained that way for a moment even after the Drive ended and Mewtwo was Maru again(cloak back to normal Maru length).

"Hey, worthy Brawler," said Sally, who had regained conciousness soon after Nikki had stroked her head for a while and was holding her neck up to look at the young man on her front. She was sitting up now, propped up on her arms, and nudged him with the tip of her tail. "C'mon, wake up. You're okay, I can tell, so quit acting like an idiot."

Maru closed his eyes, shook his head, and raised himself up to look at Sally. He then looked at himself, nodded, and at Sally again, smirking. "Honestly, what the heck do you eat? I'm shocked that I didn't tear my muscles to shreds, you're so heavy!" He couldn't help but laugh a bit.

Sally grinned. "Breakfast of champions, all I'll say, warrior," she said back.

Nikki hopped up onto her pokémon easilly. She stepped over and held her hand out to Maru. "Good battle," she said. "And well done with the surprise at the end after all that sneaky stuff we did," she added. "You looked a little rusty out there, though, it felt like."

Maru sighed as he shook her hand, standing up. "Yeah, I guess I wasn't focusing hard enough," he said. "And yes, good battle. I've never been that close to losing a fight like that, myself, in a battle like that, ever."

Nikki grinned and nodded. "Well, you just keep that additude up, big guy," she said.

The crowd cheered as the two shook hands in good sportsmanship. Then, streamers erupted out of nowhere as the Pokémon world's fanfare played. The vid screen showed Maru's face and a picture of the only pokémon in his roster, Terroge, the word "CHAMPION" next to them.

"And that's the end of the tournament!" Lock announced. "After a long gauntlet of battles, battles, and more battles, Maru has emerged victorious with only himself and the mysterious Dragon-type, Terroge! Congratulations!" He held a hand out to indicate Maru, who looked around at the immense cheering.

Maru smirked and nodded. "Thank you--it was long and hard, but I suppose I did well enough," he said to everyone, though he doubted many people heard him.

"That's all well and good," Sally said, half-eyeing and smirking at them, "but can I get up, now? It's not fun to be sitting on my wings and most of my tail, you know..."

The two trainers started, then hopped off, apologizing, as the Dragon-type laughed.

- - -

Maru was automatically healed post-Drive, and he had to heal Terroge in the small Center area by the locker rooms. In the locker rooms themselves, everyone congratulated Maru, shaking hands with him. Maru smirked a bit and shook hands with them, thanking them, but hastilly made his way to find his companions or Professor Oak. On the way out, however, he was met with more people. He sweatdropped and waded through them a bit before saying, "Screw it," and impatiently pushing people aside with some telekinesis as he ran forward, trying to escape everyone.

After a while, he made it, panting again, to the place in the stands where his companions and Pikachu sat. Professor Oak had joined them. Out in the arena was nobody and nothing, since everyone needed a break once in a while. They had an hour before more festivities. Figment cheered and pumped his arm. "GO MARU! That was AWESOME!!" he squawked as the Keyblader approached.

Maru nodded. "Thank you very much," he said, failing to conceal his smirk. "You all have fun watching?" he asked. Everyone nodded. "Good." He sighed. "I'm going to be going into my chamber to take a bit of a rest," he told them. He indicated the two dragons. "Sorry to leave you two here again."

They shook their heads, smiling. "That's okay, we're fine," Figment said. "It'd be nice if we could come into your room, too, but I don't know if we'd fit. We'll just have to investigate the rest of this place while you're gone!" He grinned evilly.

Maru sweatdropped. "Don't go getting into trouble," he warned him, pointing.

Figment rolled his eyes, saying, "Yes, mother," in a sarcastic tone, ducking a light smack from Elliot. "Sheesh! Take a joke!" he laughed up to his big friend. He looked up at Maru. "Honestly, we're going to take this opportunity to see if we can find the Keyhole while looking around. Dunno how we'll do it without your Keyblade, but..."

Maru raised his eyebrows, then smacked his forehead. "Oh, CRAP! I forgot about that! We have to find a way to get another Navi-Gummi, too," he added.

Pikachu held up a finger. "You know, they ARE going to give away a Navi-Gummi to the victor of the normal, everyday fighting tournament that's going to be held after the next few Brawls," he said. "You could enter there."

Maru gasped into a smile. "That's GREAT!" He grin-smirked and held his fist, eyebrows down in a somewhat-cocky look. "That'll be as easy as beating a magikarp! Besides," he added, looking to his teammates, "I bet YOU two want to fight after watching so much action, riiiiight?" 'The more fighting they do, the better they'll get, and the less chance they'll d--er...get in my way.'

They sweatdropped and laughed nervously as their answer.

Professor Oak chuckled. "Well, before you do anything, I just wanted to say that I'm almost done with the Pokédex," he told Maru. "I'll probably be all done with double-checking it after the end of the tournament. I'm also in the middle of copying the schematics so I can build another in case yours breaks." 'Or, really, if someone else comes that I could give one to...'

Maru nodded. "Thank you very much," he said. "I'll be sure to see you later. I'm not afraid of this world falling victim to being taken, what with so many fighters and strong trainers. If I don't find the Keyhole, I'll leave after winning the Navi-Gummi--with the Pokédex, of course, when I see you before going." He smiled and looked to the dragons again. "Well? We going to find the Keyhole?" he asked, and the three left after Elliot, groaning, put his armor back on. Professor Oak went back to where he was lodged, which was, like Harmony (the woman who had purified Terroge with a piece of the Relic Stone), in the extra rooms the people at Melee Arena had built, and continued what he had said he was doing.

- - -

Maru decided to head first to the locker rooms, where he had set up a green disc earlier. He stepped into it to heal his body (and save, if this were a real KH game) and give him energy again before travelling with his comrades around the arena. The whole place was mainly one gigantic ring with stands everywhere and huge halls encircling the area on three levels. There were a great deal of people there, as well as a number of shops. They met people from all sorts of worlds there. Elliot almost stepped on a Toad, Figment was accidentially punted by an unwary Kremling, and Maru had to be pulled away by both of them and Navi before gladly accepting an on-the-spot boxing match with Mr. Dream after the big guy had found him.

The upper and middle halls were the most occupied, but they became less occupied the farther down they went. Finally, when they had made a few laps around and gotten to the ground floor halls, they found wide halls somewhat-dimly lit by circular lights placed in the middle of the ceiling every twenty feet underneath the great bleachers. There was nobody here. Well...not quite...

The hair on the back of Maru's neck prickled up after walking a ways. "What?!" He spun around and saw, in the low light, shapes rise up. "Heartless? Here?! I was beginning to think that this place was immune!" he shouted, drawing the Keyblade.

"Well," Figment said, drawing a hand, "it obviously ain't!"

"But why appear here?" asked Elliot, uneasilly, as usual, getting into his stance.

"They may just be beginning to appear," Maru said, and the battle began.

Here, they faced a new type of Heartless that Navi later dubbed, appropriately, Brawlers. They were a humanoid type Heartless with huge hands and feet and dressed in simple-looking outfits that made them mere simple shapes with round heads and rounded bodies, except for their bare fists and shoed feet, which looked like normal fists and feet, more detailed. They wore a dirty, ragged-ended, orange scarf and a same-colored sash around their waists, the Heartless emblem emblazened onto their chests and on the clothes. Their movements were that of real martial arts, which somewhat alarmed Maru since he could not just simply swing and hit like normal. They CAUGHT his attacks and countered. Thus, a little while in, he was glad when he found a new chance appear. When near one, he dismissed his Keyblade for a moment and started to grapple with it, blocking three kicks with his legs or a condensed Barrier shield before taking the chance to counter and throw them backwards. Sometimes, he would have the opportunity to throw them into another Brawler or Heartless. Regardless, after they landed, they were stunned. Having regained his Keyblade, he would then have the opportunity to attack them freely. The whole process would take three seconds or so before he reverted back to normal fighting. He decided to title it "Wrestling Match". The Brawlers could also be easilly struck after they attacked and missed, and only when they charged up a genuine Smash attack, like a haymaker, could they win in a clash or against a guard. Also, like their title suggests, they always appeared in groups and even strategized a little to hit their targets towards each other to combo them.

After a minute or two, Maru and company had defeated their enemies. Figment and Elliot panted. "WHOOO!" Figment whooped, wiping his brow. "Who'da thunk that you could get so out of shape just sitting around for a couple hours?"

Elliot, panting a little himself but glad that his new armor was fine for him, put a paw on his hip. "I hope that's just talking about you," he said, Maru translating.

Figment chuckled and shook his head. "I wasn't talkin' about you, big guy, really!" he claimed, grinning nervously.

Maru let out a breath and shook his head. "Ugh, it's humid down here," he groaned. "Let's just stick around outside, going around the perimeter of the arena. I'm sure I'll be able to sense it if it's in the halls down here if we do. Not only that, I also want to make sure that nobody's been hurt." They began to move out.

"That won't be needed."

Maru and crew turned around towards the voice and saw someone rise up after lifting away his light, brown, portable hiding spot. Maru crossed his arms. "And why's that?" he asked.

"Because I've been hanging out down here and have had to hide from those things for a while, now," explained Solid Snake. "I heard your theories--don't worry, I'm pretty sure that there's no need to worry about any of those things coming into the light." He pointed up as he spoke.

Maru raised an eyebrow. "Well, that's reassuring," he said, "but why in this world are you sneaking around down here in the first place?"

Snake smirked a smirk that could rival Mewtwo's. "Well, that's really none of your business, now, is it?" he asked.

Maru closed his eyes, shaking his head and holding his arms up in defeat. "You're something else, Snake," he commented, then turned to his teammates. "Well, c'mon, guys, we should get out before we find more Heartless and work up more of a sweat than we'd like to," he said, and they left.

Snake watched them leave, then turned to continue on himself. In moments, he groaned and shot down, bringing out another cardboard box as more Heartless came out of nowhere. 'Man, these guys are getting on my nerves...' he thought. 'How does Maru do it? ...Oh, yeah, he's one of those weirdos who live on fighting...Wait, who am I to talk?...'

Once outdoors again, Maru and company found that, with all of their searching around, an hour had gone by. Indeed, as well, nobody had been attacked, it appeared, and Maru could not sense any Heartless around. There were already some Brawls going on above, but the stage was always a mere illusion for those outside the fight. Thus, he was confident that everything was fine while he and the others were walking around a felt-only wall in the middle of hot acid as the Brinstar stage hosted the latest Brawl.

They had made a lap when the Brawl ended and nothing had been felt by Maru. "Dang," he said, putting a hand on his chin. "Where is that Keyhole?" He looked around the arena as the podiums came up and announced that, of all people, Bowser was the winner. "There isn't much else around here that could serve as its location..."

"Well, isn't it really the heart of the world?" asked Figment. "Then wouldn't it be the arena?"

Maru shook his head. "No, because I would have DEFINITELY felt it before," he answered. "As well as now, too."

"ALRIGHT! For our next bout, let's have Zero Suit Samus, Luigi, Maru, and Ganondorf!!" called out J, who had taken back the reins as the announcer.

Maru raised his eyebrows. "Well, looks like you guys have to get back to the stands," he said. "We'll worry about all this later. Remember, I said that I'm confident that the Heartless won't find the heart of this world, so we can leave it be if we must after getting another Navi-Gummi. Wish me luck!" he added before disappearing.

- - -

After that Brawl, Maru, who had gotten second, broke away from shaking hands with Luigi. Samus had only left her trophy, which had promptly disappated after the rankings were called, and Ganondorf thought he was too badass to shake hands and stomped off. The Keyblader had begun walking off to the stands to sit and watch because he decided that it was useless to keep looking for now when J's voice announced, "ALRIGHT! Next, we're gonna give you guys another bit of a different kind of Brawl--a team free-fighting tournament!" Maru stopped and whipped around, as did a few other Brawlers (which included the Mario brothers), eyes wide.

"Already?" he asked incredulously, then he grinned and turned to face his friends in the stands and cupped his hands to his mouth. "YOU HEARD THE MAN, YOU TWO!! GET YOUR TAILS DOWN HERE!!" he called. He was met with a couple of groans, making the fight-loving pokémon chuckle as he turned back to J's voice.

"Would all who wish to participate please sign up at the booth in the arena pit, where the Pokémon Battlers signed up a while ago? And do it fast--there aren't many spots left, since a bunch of weird-looking guys came and signed up really fast...Dunno what world they're from, but they're ready to fight! So to the arena pit, on the double!" he announced.

Maru was already there, first in line, and tapping his foot impatiently while insisting he was fighting with two others.

A few minutes later, the battles began. Maru, Figment, and Elliot, who had signed up under the name of, well, just that, went third. When they were watching other fighters, however, they saw that it was mostly Heartless! "What the--?!" Maru went, shocked. "But...how could those guys be able to sign up? They're just stupid beasts...right?" He hushed himself after realizing that Terroge, in his ball, might have heard him. "Er, no offence to you, Terroge," he added to the ball, sweatdropping.

The group Maru and co. had to face was just a bunch of Shadows and Soldiers. They blazed through them easilly. Afterwards, Maru just twirled his Keyblade around and put it on his shoulder, smirking and giving a chuckle with his other hand on his side. "That all you got?" he asked. The other two did their own victory dances after each round passed as they went on. The opponents got increasingly tougher and tougher, but the group was able to last it out, despite not being able to heal between rounds. Even the dragons were doing fine. They found it great in terms of getting experience, actually. (Yes, unlike the horrifying Underdrome, if this were a game, the tourneys would give you experience. Not Munny and items, but experience.)

It was about halfway through that Maru was, during someone else's fight(the Mario brothers'), visited by somebody. "Hey, Mr. Maru!" called a deep voice. Maru looked up and saw, to his great surprise, Sally giving a ride to Nikki. "You're doing great so far, warrior!" complimented the dragon as she came to them.

Maru smirked. "Thanks, but it's all of us, actually," he said, indicating everyone else around him. "We're in this as a team. Don't think I'm the only one doing a good job--these two are doing great, regardless of the unbearable ease of the rounds."

Sally shared a chuckle with Maru. "I'll say they're easy," she said. "Those guys were no match for us when our world was taken." She smiled up at her trainer.

"Yeah," Nikki said, smiling. "I never mentioned it, but I'm also training to be something that some of us in the business call a Pokémon Slasher."

Maru raised his eyebrows. "A Pokémon Slasher?" he repeated. "Why does that sound familiar?"

Nikki chuckled and slid down her pokémon's shoulder, reminding some of the people in the stands watching them from above of how a dragonrider from the Pern series would slide off his (or her) dragon. Maru noticed she now had a pair of what looked like claws strapped onto her belt, one claw per hip. She drew them and put them on. They looked like normal claws, but when she surprised him and suddenly slashed out with amazing speed and got his arm, he had only moments to register it before the cuts made suddenly faded out of sight. While Maru gaped at this, Nikki chuckled, put her claws back, and explained, "We're pokémon trainers who specialize in carrying three pokémon around with us who we train to know how to fight on their own while we join in the fray. We're allowed to carry around weapons with blades as long as we make sure to also carry and regularly coat them with a special chemical spray that practically instantly heals all and any wounds we make to the body, but not without a drain from the target. This way, we can cause damage but not lethally." She giggled. "As you can see, there are, indeed, still warriors in our world."

Maru blinked at his arm, where he had been cut. 'She's right--I feel like I've been just given a Slash attack by another pokémon mid-battle. It hurts, but it doesn't hurt that much.' "So you're basically acting like a pokémon yourself?" he asked.

Nikki nodded, smirking. "Yup!" she said. "And me and my crew would have certainly gotten into this whole big brawl, but..." She glared at the Heartless as the Mario brothers unleashed a devestating Bros. Attack on them (see Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga for Bros. Attacks). "...Those stupid ol' black things hogged all the spaces and I wasn't here in time. But worry not," she said, looking determined as she clenched a fist, "I'll be in soon. You'll be able to see the power of me, Sally, and the rest of my pokémon in action! I haven't trained to be an expert Slasher for nothing!"

Maru smiled at her resemblance to Ash. "Good for you," he said with honesty. "I'm glad you're not giving up."

"And you'd better never give up, either," Sally sort of threatened, looking him in the eye with a serious look. "I never got to show you how wrong you are to tangle with a Dragon-type of my size." Then, in a voice so low, nobody in the stands could hear her, she added, in fluent Human, "Believe me, I am as mighty a warrior as you are, something not to be taken lightly by any measure."

Maru was more surprised at the Human than the trash talk. "You can speak Human?" he asked in a low voice.

Sally smiled and nodded. "Yeah," she said in her language, "I was taught after meeting this zangoose who had a seviper around his fat middle while he walked along--and I don't mean in the middle of a battle, either," she added. Maru raised his eyebrow and widened his eyes at this, and she chuckled. "I was surprised, too. But he's what he calls a Pokémon Linguist, a pokémon who wants to teach other pokémon how to speak Human."

Maru furrowed his brow in thought. "Hmmm...Sounds interesting. I'll have to find him sometime. Was it difficult?" he asked.

She shook her head, careful not to hit anyone. "Not after a good couple of weeks of solid practice, not really," she said. "It really came to me after a bit. You need to focus on how to make the sounds with your tounge, then just repeat whatever you hear until you're comfortible." She smirked. "I prefer my native tounge, though, especially for private conversations."

Maru nodded. "Very handy if one cannot use telepathy," he noted.

Any furthur conversation was cut off by the announcement that Maru, Figment, and Elliot were up next. They said good-bye and left to fight.

- - -

"LET'S MOVE!" Maru cried, and the three jumped aside at the last second to avoid the huge green and red fireball that had come towards them. The final bout was well underway and Maru and company were up against the Super Mario Bros. team of, of course, Mario and Luigi. The two were pulling out all the stops with their attacks, and Maru and company were trying their best, as well, though Maru was still a bit away from being able to Drive, since he had done so already once before in the battles before.

Maru met Keyblade and fist with Mario while Figment and Elliot handled Luigi. The two fought each other while Figment and Elliot tried their best against the Green Machine. The battle was furious and nobody knew what to expect out in the audience. Professor Oak was distracted from his work several times--he had the television on while he finished up his work.

Maru blocked another attack from Mario before watching him jump up. Maru looked to the sides and found he was in a corner of the force field walls. He rolled to the side to avoid the jump, but was foiled when Mario wall-jumped off the force field towards him and flipping into a Hip Drop. Maru was struck pretty badly, again surprised at the might of the man. He got up as fast as he could before he could be spun around a la Super Mario 64. Luigi had already done this a few times to poor Elliot, slamming him into one of the force field walls. 'We've got to win,' Maru thought furiously. 'We MUST!' His mind raced in thought. The worst part about this situation was that the two were not very easy to fight--they were both all-around fighters, able to jump, strike, dodge, block, and unleash special attacks, all of these within balance to one another. 'They're perfect, balanced fighters...There's no way that we can defeat them with just normal fighting...but most conventional unconventional methods are out, too, since who knows what these two can do...They look like they've seen it all.' He grunted and blocked more attacks and whipped around to strike back at a sidestepping around him. He luckilly got a chance to combo the red-capped plumber. 'Surprise is the only way we can hurt them...but...' His mind worked hard and frantically.

Then, it came to him. 'That's it! Surprise! We'll just have to find ways to distract them!' He looked around and thought, using all he knew about them up to then. He looked at Elliot as he grunted and got up again after being thrown. 'Wait...' "Elliot, forgive me!" Maru said as he raced towards him. He slid to a stop, grabbed one big, green arm, and spun around. "This has to work!" he grunted as he rotated. Elliot just gave him a confused and dispared look before Maru hucked him straight for Mario and Luigi. "SPECIAL DELIVERY!!" he cried as he sent the enormous being towards them(the projectile yelling as he went).

Mario and Luigi nodded and grabbed the big guy together. They began to charge up a point-blank Double Fireball attack when, suddenly, Maru Reversalled behind them, holding Figment. As soon as he had let go of the dragon, Maru began to strike with all his fury and speed, going into a Berserk-like endless combo. Figment, as well, unleashed cards like crazy. Maru swung and swung, juggling them in the air while carefully keeping the both of them together for about fifteen hits before he finally felt it return: The power of his clothing. He launched the two up and quickly activated his Drive. "HITMON DRIVE!" he cried, and the next moment, Mario and Luigi were being assaulted on the way down by a dual-weilding Keyblader pokémon. When they were on the ground, Mewtwo stood and waited, patiently, while they stood up. "I'm NOT going to lose," Mewtwo told them. "We CAN'T."

After that, with his brief time to be in his more-capable form, Mewtwo was able to dash around and attack with all he had. However, at one point, Mario grabbed his tail, which would normally spell a great setback. However, Mewtwo felt a chance after being launched. He was sent flying, but when he hit the wall, he landed on it with his feet. Then, the force field giving just a little as he hit it, he sprang back out, diving back to them while flying through the air almost straight back, spiraling and slashing with dual fury. He then got into another combo, not a Berserk-like one, but a normal one. He fell prey to a vicious Bros. Attack, but he had just enough Drive left to throw two Keyblades at them, one each, in the air after he was sent flying. He hit and landed as Maru, getting up as his Keyblade reappeared. He saw that they were still up, but hurting. "Alright, you two," he panted a bit, "time to go!"

With this, he and the two dragons charged. Mario and Luigi tried to jump over them, getting their heads, but fell victim to a swarm of cards constantly attacking them, the same attack Figment first used in Sherwood Forest. While attacked like so, Maru circled, ready to attack. When they fell, he jumped and whacked them straight forwards. "ELLIOT!"

Elliot took his cue and, muttering, "Sorry," thrust his great gut, armored, as the two came, slamming them away and into the ground.

They rolled, stopped, and weakly, after much waiting, struggled to stand. Maru gritted his teeth. 'These guys just don't know when to give up!' Then, to his surprise, the two just gave little chuckles before falling back, knocked unconcious.

The crowd roared as the force field lifted. J announced, "AND THE WINNER IS, AFTER A LONG FIGHT, MARU, FIGMENT, AND ELLIOT!! The grand prize this time, a complete Navi-Gummi, goes to them! Great job to everyone who participated!!"

Maru, Figment, and Elliot looked around in joy for a few moments before falling against each other in exahustion. After a few moments, they got up and shook hands with the revived plumbers of the Mushroom Kingdom. They then proceeded to go and get their trophy and the gummi.

'We won,' Maru thought, happy, standing in the middle of the ring for a bit while everyone else went along. 'We can finally get back to our journey to find my friends and seal any Keyhole we can find!' He chuckled. 'That's good, too, since I couldn't take another fight...I'm drained...' He sighed and started to move towards the direction his teammates did before the back of his neck prickled.

Dread came seeping into his stomach as he stopped short. 'No...not now...' He turned around and saw, to his worse horror, a black portal open up and a black-cloaked figure step out. "NO!" he cried, then turned to run.

"I don't think so," said the figure. Its voice sounded feminine, but as if it was being spoken out of a speaker.

Maru slammed into the force field again, this time face-first and against the hexagonagal one he'd seen before. "DAMMIT!" he cried as he backed away, rubbing his nose. "I can't believe this..." He turned around and faced the figure. As it took steps towards him, he heard slight metallic clanks. "Who the hell are you? And could you at least be honorable and fight me when I'm at full strength?" he demanded.

The figure shook its head. "No. The perfect time is now, when you're weakened." It stopped a few feet from him. "My name I WILL tell you: Ambrexi. Thirteen. Or, perhaps..." She suddenly threw off the cloak.

Maru stood and stared, eyes wide as dinner plate. "No...No...My God...what..." he stammered in shock.

Before him stood what looked like a Mewtwo clad entirely in armor, head to toe. There were lights all over and her right arm had a big, bulging cylinder with designs and lines all going to her paw, the palm of which had a strange diamond-like object in it. "...The Forgone Armor!" she finished. She slowly raised her right arm like a cannon and opened her paw. A ball of energy began to form in it. "Maru, I have been sent on a special mission to terminate you. Prepare...Prepare t-to die!!"

Maru raised an eyebrow in his mind. 'Why suddenly so hesitant? She was so dramatic before...' He shook his head and drew the Keyblade. "Well, I'm sorry, but I'm gonna have to say no, thank you," he said. "In fact, I think YOU should, instead!" He began to charge.

After a flinch from his opponent, the true final bout began.

- - -

Edit: Changed one word and one word only. One you'll most likely not notice. Why change it? Artistic reasons...


	16. 10: This Game's Winner Is,,,

Maru, though tired, was ready for a fight at all times, as was his nature. 'I can take a bit more punishment,' he thought. 'I could always use a save disc if I end up pretty beat.' He rolled to the side after a shot was fired by Ambrexi, finding it difficult since it went VERY fast. It hit the wall and exploded in a small burst of energy, dispersing in less than a split second. Maru got up and had to quickly switch to circling her as she decided to fire off rapid, but smaller and weaker, shots at him as she circled around to follow him. 'She doesn't look like she's getting tired,' he thought, the two pacing around each other like some dance, 'with this assult. I have to try and be brave if I'm going to hit her...' He started slowly spiraling in to her. She saw this tactic and backed away from him, still firing at lightning speed.

After a bit, she was stopped by one of the hexagonagal-patterned walls she'd put up. Maru was, too, but he now closed in on her while ducking, having felt a chance and a burst of inspiration at the same time. Though cornered, Ambrexi remained relatively calm and aimed at him downwards. Expecting this, Maru jumped to another side, and a sequence similar to the Quick Attack sequences of Pokémon followed, where Maru dodged one way, another, and then another while his opponent fired towards where he is at the moment. Shortly, after about two of these dodges, Maru got close enough and swung.

Ambrexi shouted in pain as she got hit, the Keyblade hitting with an uncharacteristic CLANK sound as it passed through her armor. She was unhurt, though, but the armor was, a bit. She couldn't help but reel back a bit as she was struck with a combo. Maru then leapt up and hit her with his riding Slashfest attack, facing her front this time instead of back when he began. His froghoplike double heel kick propelled her back into more space. He turned and saw her get up amazingly fast. 'That armor must have protected her from most of the pain, as well,' he realized, turning around.

Ambrexi started firing at him again. This time, Maru raced towards her straight, dodging like before in Quick Attack scene style. When he reached her, though, she jumped over him, turning as she did and firing. Maru got hit from behind as the small orbs of dark energy blasted on his form, causing him to grunt in pain. 'Okay, these hurt a bit...' Ambrexi fired four or five shots before charging up one final shot. Maru turned to face it and couldn't block in time. He was blasted back by the blow, flying into the air. He righted himself in the air, using a little psychic power to propel himself(ignorant of the magic of the Keyblade due to pride), and landed, growling. "Why didn't you do that before?" he asked. "You that stupid?"

Ambrexi growled. "Sh...SHUT UP!" she cried, and turned her face away while she fired blindly for some reason.

Maru was struck by the sudden change for a moment before he was by a bullet of energy. He got it together and took the opportunity to strike. He didn't feel a chance come as he ran, so he had to endure a hit or try and dodge it with pure skill (meaning no Reaction Commands like Reversal). He got close to her and launched a strong combo attack at her, following up with an Ember for good measure. Again, after the attacks, Ambrexi got up quite quickly. Maru took a step back as he regained his stance. "What gives?" he asked. "You say you want to fight, but you're getting scared all the time!" Ambrexi just growled back as she began firing again. Maru, rolling his eyes at the repeated tactic, charged forwards again, doing the Quick Attack sequence again, dodging twice.

Abruptly, Ambrexi flipped down as if she was suddenly doing a somersault from a standing position and flashed bright white. When the light faded, she looked like a wheel of light, oddly. Maru couldn't tell exactly what, but she was rolling quite quickly his way. He dived out of the way and found that she didn't have very good turning, as he expected, but she could stop and start in a different direction with speed that looked like it HAD to be painful (due to the whiplash from stopping so suddenly). She rolled fast and slammed into him, hitting him successfully and causing him to fly into the air a bit. She screeched and darted back and forth twice more, juggling him as she went, before circling where his body finally fell while laying orbs of darkness in her wake. These burst in succession and launched Maru again. Finally, the armor-clad being got out of her wheel and stood again, facing Maru with her palm trained on him. Panting, she asked, "Is THAT getting scared?" Her voice was shaky, and she was visibly trembling.

'Okay, look out when she gets road rage on me,' Maru noted to himself as he stood up. He noticed the way she spoke and looked, and this made him feel sure that she was not going to do well. "What's with this girl?" he muttered, furrowing his brow.

"She's still a bit green," said Snake from the other side of the wall behind Maru. Maru glanced over his shoulder for a moment to find the stealth master standing with his arms crossed. "I had a similar experience to this once."

Maru nodded and looked back. "A rookie, huh?" he asked her. "Does your number have anything to do with this?"

Ambrexi shook her head. "N-No, it doesn't, I'm not a greenhorn! I'm...I'm..." If Maru were closer, he could have seen her clench her eyes shut behind the visor, beads of sweat dripping down her face. She stood for a second, hesitating. "...No..." she whispered moments before Maru's Keyblade struck her, him having used a single Strike Raid while he charged at her again. She was limp as Maru reached her and launched one combo, then chased her a la Sonic Battle and unleashed his air combo on her. She slammed into the wall in midair and slowly fell down as Maru landed. She was in a prone position in midair, arms limp to her sides and everything pointing down to an imaginary ground above her as she fell down on her head. She grunted as she hit the ground and a small, beeping siren began from inside her helmet, but that was it. She stayed still, and Maru wondered if she was out, but as he crept close, Keyblade raised, he heard muffled crying. "...Why..." he heard.

"Huh?" he softly said, then crouched down to her to listen better.

"...Why...Why do I...Why do I recognize you?...Why does it...it hurt?...Why...do I...Do I...remember...?..." she whispered, crying. "...I...I've never...I've never met you...but...how come...I...?...I remember you...right...? It's me...isn't it?...I...Why...I...M...Maru...Why...Why..." She started crying more.

Maru looked at her, stunned, and suddenly remembered something. When he himself was crying, he had asked his own question. A thought ran through his brain that startled him. 'Is this...her?...' It was quickly forgotten when the sound of another black-cloaked being making its entrance was heard and seen right in front of him, behind her body. He stood up quickly and readied his Keyblade again. "What, come to try and finish me because she couldn't?" he asked angrilly.

The being in the cloak shook its head, bent down, and picked up Ambrexi in two large arms. "Not yet, warrior," said the obviously male voice behind the hood. It was deep and tinted with respect. "But I promise you, we shall. This one, however," he said as he bent his head to look at the now-unconcious girl, "needs to go back and train a little more before she can handle you. What Solid Snake said was true--she is, indeed, green. But know this: A promising, powerful battle mistress lies beneath this armor, once she discovers her. And with that, I say au revoir." A black portal opened up behind him.

Maru growled and held his hand out. "Get back here, coward!" he said.

And the cloaked man stopped.

"Maru! I'm appalled! Shouldn't you respect the fact I'm here to save my comrade's life?" asked he, sincere hurt in his voice...well, it SOUNDED sincere; these WERE Nobodies that Maru was presumably dealing with.

Maru started in surprise at this. "...Oh...Sorry, I'm just tired," he muttered before he could stop himself from acting weak.

The figure nodded. "As are we all," he said. He departed.

Maru looked at the spot she had lain as he remembered that fleeting thought. He shook his head. "It's impossible," he muttered. "It can't be her..."

"MARU!!"

Maru turned around to see Figment and Elliot running towards him, worried and relieved looks on their faces. While he had stood looking at the spot Ambrexi had previously occupied, the hexagon-patterned wall had fallen. Elliot was the most worried. "Are you alright?" he asked.

Maru nodded. "Yeah; like I said, I'm just tired," he replied.

Figment and Elliot wiped their brows. "That's a relief," said Figment. "I thought I'd have to try and figure out how I broke through that wall at Radiant Garden."

Maru blinked at him, half-eyeing him. "That was a fluke?" he asked.

"Hey, Maru," said Snake from behind him, and the Keyblader turned. Snake held up a disc. "I think that guy dropped this for you," he said, handing the disc over to him. "I think you should have it, since you beat her."

Maru nodded, taking the disc and looking at it. He raised his eyebrows. "It's a TM!" he said softly in surprise to himself.

Snake nodded. "Whatever it is, it might be important to you. I'd keep it if I were you," he advised.

Maru smirked and nodded, putting the disc into his collar. "It's important, all right," he said. "Thank you for noticing it. It must have blended in with the ground."

Snake nodded and turned. "Good job to everyone, by the way," he said over his shoulder.

Maru raised his eyebrows. "That's right!" he said, smirking. "We won! Thank you, Snake!" he called after him.

Snake just nodded as he walked off to do whatever it was he was going to do.

Maru chuckled. "Well, looks like I'm not the only one looking for the badass spot here," he muttered jokingly.

Figment looked up at Maru with a sly look. "Maru, your status as 'badass' officially expired as soon as you agreed to go with us," he joked.

Maru anger-veined, but, instead of exploding, crouched down and said, "Yeah, you tell yourself that. I'll just keep going across worlds to find my own while dealing with constant impatience with my growth along the way." He rose while Figment blinked at him.

"...You know, I was just joking..." he said, crossing his arms and pouting.

Maru chuckled. "Well, watch what and when you joke," he warned his teammate.

The three finally walked to the podium where stood the second- and--if they had survived--third-place teams and Agent J, the last of which was holding a small trophy and an even smaller gummi. When the three reached him, he turned on his clip-on mic and said, "Well, after a surprise FINAL final round, Maru, Figment, and Elliot have fought bravely, relentlessly, and plain old hard and have officially won the Mushroom Tournament Trophy!!" The crowd roared again. (They had roared after Maru had defeated Ambrexi and when the sheild went down. But, then, well, crowds are always making noise at stadiums--even when a moment of silence is called, at least a little noise is present.)

J handed Maru the trophy, a small, bronze one with a mushroom symbol etched into it. "They win not only a nice trophy, but also a free Navi-Gummi to allow them to visit exotic new locales!! They fought hard for this, so let's give 'em another round of applause!" The crowd gladly complied.

Maru smirked and looked at the trophy, then to his sides, after turning and facing the crowd to accept their praise. To his left was Figment, jumping up and down a couple times while pumping his arms in the air in victory before taking some time to breifly bow (performance bowing) left and right. To his left was Elliot, who was shy at first, but when he considered how hard he had worked to win, he took a big bow and started to, still a bit shy, shake his clasped paws in victory. Maru himself, after looking left and right at his comrades, smirked and tossed the trophy up, spinning it. "Just as I expected!!" he shouted, turning a circle by hooking his right fist and catching the trophy midair with telekinesis. When he faced the audience again, he held his right fist in front. "We're--" He punched up and slowly let the trophy land on his knuckles, where it sat steadilly. "--VICTORIOUS!" The crowd ate it all up.

*****OBTAINED SM2*****

*****OBTAINED NAVI-G*****

Maru and company were going back up into the sign up area. They had taken the offer by the employees there to place their trophy in a cabinet marked "Tournament Winners." They placed a group shot of them they had taken before the tournament: Figment, on the left, was making a face, Elliot was trying to look determined with his fists at his hips and his chest puffed out while standing to the right, and in the center was Maru, who stood with his arms down, fists thumbside up, and glowing slightly while levitating the Keyblade behind him in his most impressive show of psychic power he could muster. (He had to run to the save disc afterwards to cure his headache right afterwards, Navi chiding him the whole way.) The three were now greeted by screaming fans again, and Maru couldn't blow a path open again. He had an idea when looking at Elliot. 'Hm...I was going to use this back in Mach Paradise if the Heartless were carpeting the place...hope I don't hurt anyone...' He grabbed Elliot's arm. The big dragon had an, "Oh, dear," face on as he was pulled down, spun, and launched forwards. Needless to say, this cleared a path for them.

Figment blinked, then looked up at Maru. "Why do you like torturing Elliot by using him as a living speeding freight train?" he asked.

"Think of it as a creative way to throw weight around!" Maru replied, massaging his shoulder from the strain. "Let's just get out of here!" He began to run through the hall of people--walls AND floor--Elliot's soaring girth had made, Figment quickly following and Elliot, after he got up, joining soon after.

After escaping the crowds (again for Maru), the three found their way to their spot in the stands. Pikachu had sat there the whole time, munching on an apple now. Professor Oak was sitting with him. Both clapped as the three approached. "Splendid job, everyone!!" Professor Oak said. "You all did a great job out there! Congratulations!"

"That was great, Mewtwo!!" Pikachu said, clapping his little paws together with a drop-dead adorable Pikachu smile on his face.

Maru and company made "thank you" gestures and sounds. Elliot just blushed and grabbed his tail shyly, mumbling that it wasn't really anything, Figment grinned, chuckled, and put his paws behind his head, joking around by acting cocky, and Maru just rubbed the back of his neck, nodding and mumbling thank you. When they were finished, Maru got to business and stepped down to the two. "Well, uhm..." he started, faltering a moment. He looked away for a second. He was about to say goodbye to people he thought he would never see again: people from HIS world.

Professor Oak put a hand on his shoulder, making him look up into the seasoned, smiling face. "I understand," he said. "You've got places to go, and that's important to you. If you ever want to, though, you'll know where to go if you want to come back for some battles or to see some old friends! I mean, come on, you can't be going full-blast without a bit of a break now and then, right?"

Maru's face brightened at this. "Yeah, you're right," he said. 'The save discs provide physical relief, but they sure as hell don't provide mental relief.' "Besides, they might have more tournaments with different prizes that could benefit us. Not only that, it's a good place to gain more experience fighting...well, at least it is for those two," he added, nodding to his comrades with a smirk. "Thank you, Professor, for your wisdom."

Professor Oak smiled, then had an idea. "Oh! This just gave me a great idea for a poem!" he said. He cleared his throat, closed his eyes, and held a finger up as he recited. (Dunno if it'll be a haiku in Japanese, but hey, I don't know Japanese, so I'm off the hook on that.)

"Trainer and teammates

Leave to continue their quest

Ready to return."

(Crap, it's a haiku in ENGLISH! Now I KNOW it ain't one in Japanese!!;.;)

Everyone clapped for him. "That's pretty good for a scientist!" Figment said, impressed.

"What, didn't you know?" Maru asked, looking down at Figment. "Professor Oak's also famous for his Pokémon Poetry! And it still counts here because, I guess, I sort of count as a Trainer," he added.

Professor Oak rubbed the back of HIS neck, this time. "Oh, it was nothing," he said. After that was done, he got back to business, but not without a smile. "Well, then, I've got the Pokédex finished for you, Maru," he said, and brought it out. Maru raised his eyebrows at the new violet-and-black look to it. (The top was violet and the bottom was black.)

"What's with the new paint job?" asked the Keyblader. "Not that it's bad or anything--I like it. But why bother?"

Professor Oak chuckled and answered, "Because it suits you better. Anyway, it's all set, every bug ironed out(but if there's any remaining ones in there, I'm sure it wouldn't be much trouble at all to you!). All it needs is a profile to be registered." He flipped it opened and pushed a button. "If you'll stand still for a second, we'll get this over with...Elliot, step aside, please..." A moment later, the Pokédex blipped and a feminine but surprisingly deep voice (everyone was expecting a high or medium one) said the registration was complete. Professor Oak chuckled again and flipped it shut before holding it in his palm out to Maru. "And it's all yours," he said proudly.

Maru smiled as he took it. "Wow...Thank you very much, Professor Oak!" he bowed deeply. "I promise to take good care of it. This will be very useful. Again, thank you very much."

Oak nodded, hands behind his back. "Thank YOU for being willing to take it," he thanked, bowing a bit himself. "I'm sure you'll be able to get them all and fill it up--well, its Heartless- and Nobody-type sections, of course!" He laughed a bit at the idea of expecting someone to capture every pokémon in existance. "Good luck, nonetheless," he bade after he was finished laughing.

Maru bowed shortly. "Thank you, and good luck to your research and other projects," he said.

Pikachu jumped over to a nearby stand that got him relatively eye level with Maru. "I promise to say that you were here when I see Ash!" he said.

Maru was about to question the sureness, but then smiled. "That's the spirit," he said. "And thank you." He leaned in and added in a whisper, "But don't tell him about my secret yet."

Pikachu nodded. "I won't. I dunno if he'll totally understand me, but I promise I won't tell a soul!" he said, nodding and putting a little fist on his chest. He smiled and flicked his ears. "You guys be careful! I hope to see you all again soon! It's been fun!" he squeaked.

Maru smiled at his fellow pokémon, the same one he had scowled at what felt like ages ago. "Yes, it has been fun," he agreed. "But, now, we have to go, seeing as there are still worlds that need to be sealed from the Heartless. I hope you find Ash and you find him well." He turned to Oak. "And again, thank you. I hope that things continue to work out for you here. I'll update you with information each time I see you, I promise."

The two nodded, smiling.

Maru nodded. "So, then...goodbye, for now," he bade, holding a hand up in farewell as he backed away. His teammates held their paws up and waved bye as they began walking off with him, saying goodbye to their new friends.

Professor Oak and Pikachu waved back. "Bye!" they said. "See you soon, Maru!" (Pikachu said "Mewtwo", of course.)

Maru smiled gently before smirking one last time and turning around to go forwards up the stairs. "Well, guys," he said, holding up the Navi-Gummi, "let's head back to Cid so he can stick this baby into our ship and we can go to a new world!"

"All right!!" agreed the dragons, and together, the three went off down the halls to find the exit of the arena. As they left, they ran into Cloud and Leon, both fresh from the place they were going to. Leon merely waved.

Maru smirked. "What, not even a question about who's here?" he asked.

"Well, that'd be nice," Leon said, slowing down a bit and looking over his shoulder.

Maru snickered. "All I can say is to beware the Cardboard Box Ninja," he said, and turned around to hide his laughter from the understandably-confused face of the FFVIIIer. He had met people from his own world, one of which he knew at least indirectly and a little personally. He had a new Navi-Gummi, TM, and Pokédex specially made for researching Heartless-type and Nobody-type pokémon. His spirits were, indeed, high. You could, therefore, understand why his comrades were unnerved by his wide smile, and even more when he laughed after noticing this.

**Maru got the Pokédex!! (Doo-doo-doo-dooo!)**

- - -

"You were so promising..."

Ambrexi knelt before a cloaked figure whose back was turned to her. They were in a white room surrounded by chairs of different heights. All of them were filled except the lowest. The next-lowest was occupied by a figure that looked at her with concern in his eyes from behind his hood. The one Ambrexi was kneeling before was on the highest chair. "I'm sorry, One. I...have no idea what happened."

"It appears I was a bit...hasty in choosing you to go after him. You were so willing, though..."

Ambrexi looked up. "It's because I want to get him out of my frikkin' skull!!" she said, voice raising a bit. "He's driving me crazy and I don't know why. I wouldn't have to if he isn't around anymore...because it wouldn't matter..." She lowered her head, trailing off.

"...Memories are very fickle things, Thirteen," One said. He turned and sat in his chair to look at her. "Troublesome, as well, both facts proved by Naminé. You are quite fresh, though, and your memories appear to return the more you think of him. Perhaps, if you were to do something to take your mind off of him for a while, you will forget him long enough to take care of him next time." He held a gloved hand out and curled his fingers while holding his palm up. "Rise, Forgone Armor."

Ambrexi rose slowly to a stand, waiting a second before looking up at him. "Yes, One."

"You are hereby given a mission to another world--a mission to obtain something that might aid us in reaching our goal. It is an ancient relic with an amazing power, the definite effects of which are unkown. If anything, it would be good not to let it fall into the wrong hands--such as the hands of some fool who would obviously misuse its powers. You are to go on this mission alone, but may receive help by any willing resident of the world. It might be dangerous, and there will likely be many Heartless that are out of control there, as well. Do you accept?"

Without hesitation, Ambrexi answered, "I accept!"

The figure in the second-lowest chair leaned forwards a little. "Ambrexi, are you--"

"I'm sure. And don't worry about me. I'll be back." Ambrexi kept facing One, not looking at the other one. "I won't fail this mission. I assure you all. I want to get him out of my head once and for all. This is my chance to do it. And besides, I'm in everyone else's way, and I can't object to One's method of getting me out of said way, regardless of what he says it is."

The whole room raised eyebrows at this last remark's rashness, then looked at One for his reaction: Merely a chuckle. "This is also a mission that seeks to keep that other side of you under control," was all he added.

Ambrexi gasped, then, behind her armor, glowed bright red. "Sorry, I'm sorry..." she muttered.

"No matter. You are to leave as soon as you are prepared. Rest first, though, since Mewtwo is still, even as Maru the human, no pushover, and that armor, though protective technology at its finest, still helps nothing in terms of fatigue caused by emotional stress--regardless of if said emotions are fake or not. You are dismissed."

Ambrexi nodded. "Thank you, One. I won't let you down." With that, she turned on her heel and walked out, opening a black portal as her exit point.

Everyone else disappeared from their chairs. Well, everyone except the one in the second-highest chair. He sat and thought for a moment. A long, thick tail was seen behind him, swishing aggrivatedly. "Ambrexi...Why...I still don't understand..." He looked up at the ceiling. "...It's...no use putting yourself in danger...if it's just going to get you nowhere, anyway..."

- - -

WHOOPH!! THAT took an age! Sorry, everyone! I didn't realize that a chapter taking place in the collo...collu...arena level would take that long. But, now, we're off to new worlds and new adventure! Not only that, but it seems we've now gots us a new side story to explories. Thank you for everyone who's stuck with me for this whole damn thing so far...there's still a HELL of a lot more to go, and I haven't been using my summer vacation as I should have been--GETTING THIS THING DONE AND OVER WITH!! Kids, NEVER start on a HUGE fanfic if you've got a nasty history of not sticking with things like this the whole way through unless you want a guilt trip every time you look at your computer X.X

Anyway, stay tuned! We're finally getting back on the saddle and getting to a new world!! And DAMN, I was gonna give Maru a new Keyblade because I'm getting sick of Sharpshot! X( Oh, well. Maybe I can rig something quick up at Radient Garden quick...


	17. 11: Magic For Dummies

**Bit 11: (Interlude)**

Maru and his dragon comrades flopped down gratefully into their chairs. Chip and Dale tapped their feet at them. "I thought you guys said this wouldn't take long," Dale said.

Maru sighed. "Well, you obviously don't know who I am, yet," he said, taking out his TM reader machine and reading the new disc. It contained Ice Shard. He raised an eyebrow, but he attempted to learn it anyway. A broken disc later proved he could. He smirked. "Looks like Maru learned Ice Shard!" he said.

"Doo-doo-doo-dooooo!" sang Navi from inside his collar, though he apparantly didn't mind.

"I wonder how this can be used differently from Ember..." he muttered, looking thoughtful. "Maybe if I make it break apart on contact, sending shrapnel around...yeah. That's what I'll do. Though..." He looked at a gloved hand. "...Cryokinesis...I should get used to it, I suppose," he muttered, focusing his attention back on the wheel and the map. "Alright, let's blow this poffin stand," he muttered, selecting Radiant Garden and starting off towards it. The other two yelped how they weren't buckled in yet. "Again," he said, this time over his shoulder, "you obviously don't know who I am, yet!"

A wild Gummi Ship ride later brought them back to the familiar sight of Radiant Garden.

**Bit 11: Radiant Garden QUICK Pit Stop**

Cid looked up as Maru and company stepped into the computer room. "So, you guys have fun?" he asked, crossing his arms and standing.

Maru nodded. "Scads. We won another Navi-Gummi. Could you please put it in our ship for us?" he asked, holding the tiny gummi block up.

Cid took it, a wistful look on his face. "Oh, I wish I didn't have to do this stuff again," he muttered. "Sora was able to just open up the paths himself, before, without Navi-Gummis. Maybe you just can't or som'n'. It sure is nice that these Navi-Gummis DO have the ability to let you past the walls between the worlds, though," he added as he walked off past them towards the study. "Yeah, I'll add it," he called over his shoulder as he reached the walkway. "Just get back in the study in around fifteen minutes."

"Right!" Maru called back.

"So, what're we gonna do in the meantime?" asked Figment, looking up at Maru.

Maru shrugged. "Look around town for any supplies we might need," he said.

So, they went and browsed, but quickly found nothing new was for sale. They had a good ten minutes left, though, and they were at a loss as to what they should do in that time. Sitting around was something only Elliot was used to, and he was outvoted three to one in this case if he even wanted to try and suggest it. The three walked around, Maru with his arms crossed as he thought, in the marketplace. "What are we going to do for ten minutes?" Figment asked, paw to his chin.

As luck would have it, Merlin was passing by when he heard this. He stopped and turned to see, to his delight, the three world-hoppers. "Oh, you're all not busy?" he asked, drawing their attention.

Maru looked and raised his eyebrows. "No, we've got ten minutes to kill...well, eight, since we need time to get back," he corrected himself. "Otherwise, we've got free time we don't know what to do with."

Merlin smiled. "Then come with me," he said. "I have a feeling that you, Maru, aren't quite up to snuff with your magic..."

Maru sweatdropped. "M...Magic? Er...I CAN use--well, emulate pokémon moves, and that's fine enough for..." He trailed off as his feet moved him along after the old man. "Well, it's something to do," he muttered.

At his house, while Figment and Elliot sat and watched, Merlin ended up teaching Maru how to use the very useful spell Cure, which took Maru the whole time, resulting in him being able to heal only one HP of damage.

Merlin grumbled, dropping his hands in defeat. "Oh, you HAVE to learn this spell! Your very lives might depend on it!" he stressed.

"Yeah, we already know that," Figment said, holding up a Cure card. "These guys owe me big time for all the times I've helped them out of a bad situation." He eyed Maru especially.

Maru sighed, drooping his arms. "I'm sorry, but we have to meet Cid after he installed the Navi-Gummi, now," he said to Merlin. "I would love to try again some other time, maybe after we get another Navi-Gummi, but we're busy..."

Merlin shook his head. "Ooooh, Cid can very well wait," he said in a huff. "We're learning Cure, and that's that!"

Maru sweatdropped. "I-I obviously can't learn magic very well like this," he said. "If it were only in the form of a TM, I could...I mean, that's how I was able to learn Ember and, more recently, Ice Shard."

Merlin furrowed his brow. "'TM'?" he repeated.

"Technical Machines, discs with pokémon moves from my world. I've been able to use two of them to learn the moves I just mentioned."

"OOOOOohhh!" Merlin went, nodding back his head a little. "You're talking about _S_Ms, not _T_Ms!" In a puff of smoke, a yellow disc appeared on his outstretched palm. "I've heard about these, but I never knew what world the spells contained on them were from. I suppose, though, if you insist, they're not really spells, then, are they?" he chuckled. "Special Machines are discs that, if they're used properly, can teach people how to use the power dwelling deep within them to unleash spells--er, moves, as you put them...Special attacks or other actions that generally make use the elements, there! Anywho, you have found two already and have used them, from the sounds of it. How, dare I ask, did you use them to learn from them?" he asked, curious.

Maru smirked and brought out the TM checker. "Well, remember that I'm psychic," he said. "I use this device to see what move's on the TM--er, SM, in this case, and then scan it using a psychic ability that took me a while to perfect that allows my brain to read data like a computer for a little while. It takes a bit of energy, but it's generally worth it. I can show you with that one, if you'd like," he offered.

Merlin raised his eyebrows. "Well, of course! I was going to give this to you, anyway, since I have no use for it. If you can actually use these, that would be wonderful!" he said, giving the disc to Maru.

Maru nodded. "Thank you," he said while he placed the SM in the TM reader. It spun the disc for a couple seconds before slowing to a stop and beeping happily while "Shock Wave" appeared on the display. Maru raised his eyebrows, a happy smile on his face. "Oh, my, thank you, indeed! Shock Wave isn't a bad Electric-type move at all!" He smiled and actually chuckled a little bit (you would, too, if YOU found out you could learn such a useful and very decent Electric move!!) as he pulled the disc out of the reader. His expression changed, though, as a thought occured to him. As he placed the disc on his palm, ready to read, he mumbled to himself, "Although...yes, I should be able to modify it if it appears that I should--I'll be using it as electrokinesis." He nodded and began the process. The disc levitated and spun, as if in a CD-ROM drive. He focused a bit, getting the information into his head, before, finally, the disc started to crackle with electricity and the spinning slowed down as it slowly floated down to his palm, falling down after the spinning had slowed enough for him to release it. "And just like that, Maru learned Shock Wave!" he announced triumphantly.

"Doo-doo-doo-doooo!" sang Navi in his collar again, though, to Merlin's surprise, the Keyblader, oddly, didn't appear to mind it at all.

Merlin blinked for a moment at this abrupt change in character. "I...guess so..." he muttered, then smiled, regaining composure. "Well, can you? Show me," he said, crossing his arms and flicking his wand to magic up a piece of floating furniture.

Maru nodded and crouched a little, aiming. Then, swinging his Keyblade across his front, he launched a bolt of lightning undulating at the furniture. It was launched a little off, but it curved and met its mark. Maru smirked. "Yes, I can," he said, crossing his arms and standing again.

Merlin raised an eyebrow, stroking his beard. "Well, well, I suppose you might," he muttered, "though I still would feel more comfortible if you used Thunder, instead..."

Maru widened his eyes. "What, and waste a lot of energy? Thunder's a pretty taxing attack and should be used sparingly! I doubt I'd be facing a lot of powerful enemies that I can't handle yet without it," he argued, shifting his weight and raising an eyebrow.

Merlin blinked for a moment before realizing that there must be a move called Thunder. He asked, Maru confirmed it, and the wizard laughed. "Oh, I'm sorry, I was talking about the spell," he apologized. "Allow me to explain: There are three primary Black Magic spells: Fire, Thunder, and Blizzard. They are elemental in nature and tend to act in different ways depending on how the caster learned or altered it." He popped in a book, which then opened itself to a page containing pictures of Sora casting spells. "Here's Sora demonstrating them here, using his own unique style in his casting. How you cast is changes things a bit, by the way," Merlin noted. "For instance, Sora focused his magic through the bit on his Keyblade, ending up using it like a scepter or, in the case of Fire, at first, and Blizzard, like a gun. If he had cast them through some other method, he would not have had the same results, neccisarilly." Merlin chuckled as Maru looked like his pride was a little hurt. "Oh, don't worry! There's nothing wrong in using the magic in objects to help you cast spells," he assured him. "I mean, we wizards do it all the time with wands and staffs! You might want to consider using your Keyblade, as well, since it is quite potent both as a weapon and as a channel for your magic."

Maru looked at his Keyblade. "I will admit, I have neglected the magic latent within the Keyblade," he said. "Maybe if I use it to try casting Cure..." He held it in both hands and closed his eyes, focusing on the energy within. Then, he focused on the bit of the Keyblade. "Okaaaaayy..." he growled, then thrust the Keyblade into the air, pointing up. "CURE!" he cast.

A small, soft, green light fluttered about him, but not much else. Merlin frowned. "Oh, dearie me..." He stroked his beard for a moment. "You seem to be reluctant to accept the fact that it's magic..."

Maru clenched a fist and growled, "No, I'm not! If I still was, I wouldn't be as good with the Keyblade as I am or be as used to the way Figment fights and heals! It's just..." He calmed a bit, looking down and thinking for a second. "...I think I still have a bit of trouble telling it apart from a move or using psychic power..." he concluded.

Merlin, upon hearing this, raised his eyebrows. "That's it!" he said suddenly, snapping his fingers. "Let's see...uhm...er..." He stepped over to the computer Cid used sometimes and looked around. He smiled and said, "Ah!" before picking up a blank disc. "This looks like it could work," he said, holding it up. "I hope it's blank..." He squeaked as it began to spin in his hand, letting it go as it levitated in the air.

Maru walked over, doing a quick glance over the disc. In a second, he let it drop, catching it as it fell. "It is," he said. "I didn't see any data whatsoever. Why do you want it?" he asked, holding it out to Merlin.

Merlin took it. "Well, I think that I might be able to sort of create my own Special Machine, but instead of a move, as you put it, I'll place Cure onto it. I hope it works...And do warn someone next time you try that," he added, smiling admonishingly.

Maru srugged. "Sorry," he said.

Merlin smiled and waved his hand dismissingly. "Oh, well, don't worry about it," he said. "I'll work on this while you three hurry up to Cid. Just be certain to see me afterwards, alright?" he asked, raising an eyebrow to Maru while waving his finger at him.

Maru nodded. "Alright, we will," he said. He waved his arm beckoningly towards the dragons. "Okay, you two, come on, let's go and get our heads chewed off by Cid."

The other two chuckled nervously as they got up and walked over to him.

Merlin chuckled. "Oh, just tell him I kept you for a little while," he said. "He can take it up with me; it's no trouble at all, don't worry."

Maru bowed. "Thank you, Merlin. We'll see you in a bit," he said, and the three left.

*****OBTAINED SM3*****

- - -

Cid did chew their heads off, even after Maru said that Merlin kept them. He didn't do it as bad if Maru hadn't given his reason, but it still wasn't fun. "...There. Now, I WAS going to give you a little present for delivering those letters, buuuut..." Cid crossed his arms and turned around, head shaking.

Maru raised his eyebrows. "Present?" he asked.

Figment was on his knees, paws clasped, and begging, "OHPLEASENOWE'RESORRYPLEASEOHPLEASEWE'RESORRY!!"

At this, Cid stopped, slyly looked over his shoulder, and turned back around, saying, "Weeeell, I suppose I can letcha off easy. I mean, Merlin DID keep you guys, and I know how that old geezer can go on." As he turned, he also opened his arms to plant them on his hips. When he finished speaking, he flicked his nose in his trademark fashion. Then, he reached into his back pocket and withdrew a keychain. "Catch," he said, and tossed it to Maru.

Figment jumped to grab it, but Maru easilly boosted it out of the way with telekinesis so that he could grab it himself. He looked at it. It appeared to be made of gummi blocks. Raising an eyebrow, he asked, "Did you...make this?" He looked up to Cid.

Cid smirked and flicked his nose again. "You bet. Not bad, if I do say so myself. I noticed that you guys all have a bunch of gummi blocks taking up space in your cargo hold, gathering dust, by the way...do you plan on using, oh, say, 50 of them?" he asked, raising an eyebrow slyly. "Cuz we still gotta talk about your fee, here."

Maru raised his eyebrows. "What? I thought you were doing it for free!" he complained. "You didn't say anything about a fee!"

Cid waggled a finger. "I said I'd do it for free THAT time--I didn't say nothin' about it bein' a free public service," he pointed out. "But this time, I guess, if you guys don't mind, seeing as you ain't too crazy about customizing your gummi ship, I'll live with getting 50 of those good, level three square blocks o' yours."

Maru looked to his teammates, who all shrugged(though Figment had brightened up at the word "customizing"). "I don't think it's too much to ask," he said.

"Good! I already swiped 'em, anyway!" Cid said, laughing heartilly as Maru and Elliot gawked, the former then anger-veining.

Figment cocked his head. "What do you mean, customizing?" he asked, interested.

Cid chuckled down from his laughing and looked at the purple dwaggie. "Well, you can use gummi blocks to build yerselves some new ships," he said. "You can just ask Chip and Dale, your captains. And, Maru, they said that you wouldn't mind if I took them since you never used them, anyway," he added to Maru, addressing his complaint about permission.

Maru growled, crossed his arms, and sat back down in his chair from standing up. "Still, you should have asked us, too," he grumbled.

Figment frowned. "Well, I don't want to let go of 'em now that I know we can make our own ships," he said. "I mean, come on, we can at least stick on a few more guns, can't we, guys?" he asked, turning to his companions, clasping his paws again, but this time with puppy dog eyes instead of crying ones like when he was begging before.

Maru and Elliot sweatdropped, but, after a little bit, Maru started as an idea hit him. He crossed his arms and nodded his head thoughtfully, eyes closed. "You know, I think Dale mentioned something about that when we grabbed a dropped gummi block," he said. "You can deal with it, though, if you really want to. In fact, you can go ahead and figure one out while we're flying--I'll just channel the control of the laser to my controls. Flying and firing is something that people in the Air Force have to do all the time--it can't be too difficult." He was smirking, though, and both dragons could tell he had just been waiting to ask for the control of one of the guns.

Cid raised an eyebrow. "You guys split up the functions of the ship?" he asked. "I remember that Sora was the one who actually piloted the ship--direction, guns, and lasers. His teammates just warned him of things to the sides or managed things like radar-watching and other minor things." He shrugged. "But, if that's how you want to do things..." he began, but midsentence, he heard Maru start to ask Elliot if he wouldn't mind handing the guns over to him. This made Cid laugh again, even harder this time. "You're a glutton for action, you know that, Maru?" he asked, putting his palm to his forehead before laughing some more.

Maru smirked. "I was MADE for action," he stated. 'Literally. And, quite frankly, I don't mind it when the moment comes...'

Cid sighed after laughing a bit more, shaking his head. "You're alright, you know?" He nodded. "Well, you all best be off. The gummi's been installed, and you've got two new worlds you can find. I decided to also add in a little function that lets you guys know if there's a Navi-Gummi nearby in the world you're on. You'll need this little interface gizmo," he said, grabbing out something the size and shape of a watchface and tossing it to Maru. "I'd let your little fairy girl you got in there handle it," he advised. (In case she hadn't introduced herself before, Navi had made herself known when she joined Maru in complaining about permission to take things. How Cid didn't go insane from the voice many gamers with N64s (and, now, Virtual Console access for those who missed the masterpiece) know as one of the most annoying ever when used in excess nagging. Though, me and my Mom DID find her cute...)

Maru caught it and looked at it. It was just like a watch face, except the watch part itself was replaced with a screen that had a little radar on it. It currently read in red, "NO," meaning that there weren't any Navi-Gummis around the world. Maru nodded and gave it to Navi. "Okay, thank you very much. Could it also help with Keyholes?" he asked.

Cid shook his head. "Nope; you'll have to do that yourself," he answered. "You should be happy, though--50 gummi blocks for all this? I'd be happy, I know!" He chuckled and smirked, though. "You all go an' get lost in the worlds, now, and don't get yerselves killed, okay?"

"We'll try not to," Maru promised, smirking but eyes telling he wanted to sigh due to the worry he had with his teammates' lack of battle skill. "Thank you very much, Mr. Cid," he said, bowing after he stood up. "See you next time we need another Navi-Gummi." He turned to leave.

"G'bye, Cid! Thanks for the tip about building Gummi Ships!" Figment bade, bouncing along as he waved behind him.

Elliot just waved as he plodded after the two, smiling thankfully.

Cid flicked his nose again. "Yeah, yeah, no prob, see ya," he called back.

*****OBTAINED "Field-G"*****

- - -

Later, Maru knocked on Merlin's door. He had already changed his keychains. The new Keyblade looked like it resembled something built out of gummi blocks, like the keychain, but it also resembled a ship, sort of. He recognized an Aero-G on the teeth side, and there was a cone at the tip like the nose of a ship. Cylinder blocks formed the hilt and barrel, cube blocks formed the teeth, and cube and curved-edge blocks--these the only level 2 strength--formed the double handguard, which had a bit less space than normal, but was still managable. On the bottom-most block on the handguard was what looked like tiny, noodle-like blocks that formed the loop the keychain hung off of. Maru quickly decided to title this one form "Field-G", since it looked like it was made of gummi blocks, but was meant for use on the field, not on the ship. He didn't particularly like the way it looked more than ever like a toy, but he had to live, since he had been getting tired of Sharpshot. 'I wonder what kind of special ability this one has,' he wondered, 'if it has one.'

Merlin soon answered to the knocks, opening the door with magic. "Come in, come in," he said, and the three came in. The wizard smiled at the three as they came through the door, Elliot closing it behind him with his tail. "Oh! Maru! Wonderful to see you!" he said. "Thank you for coming back like I said! Er, how was Cid?" he asked, looking sorry.

Maru raised his Keyblade, making Merlin widen his eyes at the bright colors, themed after the Kingdom model of his ship. "Well, it wasn't as bad as you'd think," he said. "He did give us a couple things, mainly this new keychain and a sensor that allows us to see if there's another Navi-Gummi around."

Merlin raised an eyebrow as he looked the medium-length Keyblade up and down. "That's quite...interesting," he commented. "I suppose it can do SOMEthing of value in exchange for its appearance, worry not," he assured. "In fact...why don't I analyze its magic ability for you? I doubt it will be easy to do with psychic power, since psionics and magic are two different things, the former more apt to dealing with the mundane than the latter..." he muttered as he flicked his wand over the barrel. After a while, he smiled and nodded. "There. I'll tell you later, but for now, let's get this over with," he said, walking over to a glowing, green disc on a shelf.

Maru raised his eyebrows. "You were successful, I take it?" he asked.

Merlin nodded. "Yes, I am--at least, I hope. We won't know until you try and use it," he said, giving it to Maru.

Maru, for the third time in two hours, took the SM and put it through the scanner. After a few more seconds than normal, it stopped with a different, ambivalent-sounding beep that accompanied a "MOVE UNKNOWN" on the display. He sighed in relief. "It will work," he said. "That just means it sees a move on there, but it doesn't recognize it."

Merlin breathed a sigh of relief as well. "Good, because that took a while to figure out how to work right..." he muttered wearilly. "Well, give it a go!" he said, motioning Maru to go ahead.

Maru nodded and began to scan it. The 1's and 0's that normally come to his mind when scanning SMs were present, but he also felt something filling his whole being...something else. As he scanned, he suddenly was transported elsewhere. In a blank room, he was standing with the Keyblade in two hands. Almost automatically, he focused his power, not his mind, on the Keyblade's bit. Opening his eyes, he stabbed it up and shouted, "HEAL!" Instantly, a small, green light flashed in a ring around him, small leaves fluttering about before disappearing while he felt his body relax and feel a lot better. Consequentially, he felt the same energy used to fuel moves become drained, though it began to recharge itself immediately. As suddenly as it had begun, the image stopped, and Maru was back in Merlin's room, scanning the disc. It blackened and crackled with electricity as it broke. Maru stopped scanning it and let it stop spinning. "I...I think I did it," he said softly as it fell.

Merlin smiled. "Well, then, let's see it!" he insisted, making another motion like before.

Maru nodded, then focused again. He repeated what he had done in the white room and was pleasently surprised to find it worked. "I did it! I know it like a move...but it's not quite a move. It's different, but yet I learned it like a move. That must be the key to all of this!" he concluded after realizing it, smiling and closing his fist. 'And so, Mewtwo learns Cure--a magic spell, not a move...an interesting experience,' he self-narrated in his head. He heard Navi's "Doo-doo-doo-doooo!" in the back of his mind while he did so. He looked up and grinned at Merlin. "Thank you very much, Merlin," he said, bowing. "This will help me a great deal when Figment can't heal us." 'I still have quite a way to go before I can remember Recover, so this WILL help. Besides, as much as I want them to leave, I don't want to see my teammates fall to the Heartless...' He trailed off in his head.

Merlin chuckled. "Oh, it was nothing," he said, waving a hand dismissingly again. "I'll have another one prepared for when I deem it the right time for you to learn Curara." He thought for a moment, seeing if there was anything else. "Oh!" He held a finger up in rememberance. "That Keyblade's form's ability! It...er...oh, dear, I've forgotten in all the hub-bub of learning Cure," he groaned, knitting his eyebrows together and up.

"Um, guys?" Everyone turned to look at Maru's collar, where Navi had just flown out. "I can do that, too...I just didn't want to steal anyone's thunder," she told everyone. She offered, "If you'd like, I can tell you what it is! Just ask! I can even say if it's good for attacking or for using spells or moves, too!"

Maru nodded. "I'd appreciate it, thank you," he said.

Navi nodded--bobbed forth and back. "Well, okay..." She flew down to Maru's Keyblade for a moment, looking along it, before flying up again. "It's more suited for attacking, but not by too much, comparatively. Its ability is...Thunder Boost, I think it's called, and it enhances Thunder magic--in your case, Maru, it'd most likely be Electric-type moves. It only applies to you, by the way." She nodded again. "Well, there ya go!" she said.

"Thank you, Navi," Maru said, and the fairy nodded once more before returning to his collar.

Merlin sighed. "I'm glad THAT'S over with," he said tiredly, then chuckled and cleared his throat. "Now, you've got to leave, don't you?" He smiled and motioned to the save disc. "It's been nice seeing you again! Good luck!" he bade.

Maru bowed. "Thank you. See you soon, then!" he said. "Farewell!" He turned and, eager to get going, jogged to the disc.

"Bye, Merlin!" Figment said, waving behind him as he went.

Again, Elliot just smiled thankfully and waved as he went, too.

Merlin waved back, bidding farewell to them and good luck. When they left, he sighed. "Well, I suppose things are never dull with them, that's for sure," he said to himself.

*****OBTAINED CURE ELEMENT*****

- - -

Again, that took longer than I'd have liked...Oh, well! Time to get our butts on over to some new worlds, eh? :) I hope you all enjoy the next chapters!

...Whenever they come...


	18. 12: Aloharama

**Bit 12: (Interlude)**

Maru and company got back on the ship, where Figment immediately set to work on coming up with a new ship using a blueprint editor. Chip helped him out with this while Maru took a look at his computer. He configured it to allow him full control of navigation, guns, and lasers, then looked at the worlds available to him at the time. Only two were open to him at the moment. One world seemed to look like an inhabited tropical island, with a large beach and a small town in sight. Above it flew a large, alien-looking space ship. Another had what looked like a suburb on one side of it with two houses by each other and what looked like a theme park or something with a space theme to it that bore a large sign with "Pizza Planet" on it, the two locales connected by a large stretch of road. Maru put a hand to his chin. "Where to go first?" he muttered.

Elliot leaned over and saw something blue and sparkling on one of the worlds Maru had on the screen. He gasped and unbuckled himself. "Is that the ocean?" he asked excitedly as he came over to look. He grinned. "It IS! Oh, that reminds me of home...Oooh, it looks like a vacation spot, too!" He sighed. "A nice break on the beach sounds good right about now," he said wistfully.

Maru raised an eyebrow at his large friend. "Why rest even more? You just got back from sitting on your big tail for at LEAST two hours straight, doing nothing but watching. Wasn't that rest enough?" he asked, chuckling a little.

Elliot frowned. "Awwwwrr...Well, it DOES look fun, though," he said, shrugging.

Maru nodded. "I guess it WOULD make a change of pace, running around on a beach," he said. He nodded. "Alright, then, it's settled. We'll go to this world here."

"Where?" Figment asked, looking up from his work. He was having quite a blast at the moment, really, but he wanted to know where they were headed, at least.

"What looks like an island area," Maru said. "It's got a big, blue ocean with a nice beach...with people under umbrellas...playing with a beach ball...going to ice cream stands..." He looked longingly at the beach as the waves lapped on its shores, suddenly wanting to lie down on a towel on top of some nice, warm sand while the ocean's gentle sounds soothed him into a relaxed state and the sun tanned his skin, a chocolate ice cream cone in hand. He sighed and rested his head in his hands as he gazed at it. "...Great, now -I- want a vacation..." he murmured, and Elliot laughed. Maru shook his head. "...Sadly, though, we've still got some work to do...we don't have time to do anything unless it's constructive in finding the Keyholes..." He realized he was saying something hypocritical when he felt Elliot glowering at him with his paws at his hips and one of his footpaws tapping the floor. Maru looked up and sweatdropped, laughing nervously. "Eh-heh-heh-heh, well, erm...uh...That was constructive because we all got some good training in! Yeah! Besides, we got my pokémon purified, and that's important on the heart's level," he added, holding a finger up while closing his eyes and nodding, as if it were all a matter of fact.

Elliot sighed. "Yeah, I guess..." he said. "But if we get done with this world early, we're taking a break, because it's constructive to rest up properly, too," he reminded him. "Those save discs are good and all, but...it won't do our minds any good if we're forcing ourselves to go around awake all the time. I don't know how Sora, Donald, and Goofy could have done it..." He shook his head as he returned to his seat.

Maru considered what Elliot said. 'He's right...rest would be a good idea...and I've been yearning for a nap for a while...' He considered it a bit. 'Well, looks like nothing bad's really happened while we were off in Melee Arena...and I think I remember hearing Sora spent some time out of his journey to fight in some tournaments, too, and nothing bad came of it. Alright; a couple more extra hours of time spent outside my quest wouldn't hurt.' He nodded, smiling. "Alright, Elliot, you win," he said, calling over his shoulder. "We'll take a break after we're done with this world and have ourselves a nice nap on the beach for a couple hours. How's that for incentive to get this over with?" he asked.

Elliot gasped and smiled, ears fluttering like they do when the big guy gets excited. He nodded vigorously while making a hearty, "UH-HUH!" He buckled in and punched the air in front of him. "Let's GO!!" he said enthusiastically, making Maru laugh.

- - -

After a very fun ride (for Maru) in the Gummi Ship, the three hovered above the new world. Below them, it looked exactly like it had been on the screen. "Beautiful," Maru commented as the three (plus Navi, who had come out of Maru's collar to look) looked out the cockpit window to the world below. He looked at the screen. "What's this place called?" he asked nobody as glanced down to the name. He raised his eyebrows in surprise. "Well, well, WELL! We're going to have a bit of fun...I just hope nobody asks me for a passport!" he half-joked.

"Where are we?" asked Elliot.

"America!!" Maru replied, smiling. "Now to see if they really DO eat tons of disgusting food," he muttered jokingly.

"What?! They don't..." Elliot began, but he dismissed it and instead asked, "What state?" with eagerness.

Maru smiled. "The Aloha State," he said. "We're heading down to Hawaii!"

Elliot's face fell at this. "Awwwrr...Oh, well, I thought as much," he said, shrugging. He smiled. "At least we're in a great place to go take a rest once we're finished here!" he silver-lininged.

Maru smiled as he stood up and stretched before turning to start to the door. "Yeah, I can't wait...Wow. America...I never thought we'd be going around THE world on our grand, world-hopping adventure..." He couldn't help but ponder this.

"Well, maybe we're just going to, like, parallel dimentions," Figment suggested. "The same world, but under different circumstances."

"Or maybe just different possibilities in different parts of the world," Maru muttered before growling and shaking his head. "Oh, let's not think about it to hard; it's a wonderful topic, but now's NOT the time to get all existential. We've got a job to do and a nap on the beach to get to!" He marched resolutely the rest of the way to the door.

Figment and Elliot blinked nervously after him. "Maru, you're scaring us again," Figment said. "You're acting silly."

Maru kept a straight face while he stamped his foot and reasoned, "Well, who WOULDN'T want an excuse to get a free vacation, even if it's just for a couple hours of sleeping on the beach?!"

Figment and Elliot laughed at this. "You got us there, Maru," Figment chuckled, and the dragons came over to him. Then, together, with another "goodbye, good luck", this time from Chip and Dale, they went down to the new world.

- - -

Maru, Figment, and Elliot "beamed down" into the world outside a house on a patch of land by the ocean, surrounded by lush island vegetation on the left side (facing the front), where they were, but no green save disc appeared beneath them. They weren't worried about that very much and were more concerned with the fact that they were by someone's house in Hawaii. The three heard a door close and a woman speaking. She sounded young, but adult.

"Okay, Lilo, we're going to behave at the animal shelter, now, right?" asked the woman. A tan-skinned woman with black hair, a t-shirt, shorts, and boots came into view, climbing down the steps in front of the house. She had turned around while she spoke. Figment privately noticed she had a largish nose on her. Maru estimated her age to be around 21 or so.

"Of course I am, Nani!" whined a young girl's voice annoyedly. She came down the steps, too. She was short, though taller than Figment, and wore a red dress with a white leaf print pattern. She had long black hair that shone in the light. She must have been pretty young.

"Alright," Nani said, turning around. "Just checking." She sighed. "I can't believe I'm doing this..." she muttered to herself.

"I wonder what kinda dogs they've got," Lilo said in that excited, dreamy voice kids get when fantasizing about things sometimes. The two walked down the road into town.

Maru and the dragons looked at each other, raising their eyebrows and eyeridges. "Well, this is an interesting start to our visit," Maru said.

"Yeah, I know," Figment agreed, then he smirked. "Finally, I meet someone who's about my size!"

Maru chuckled. "Well, it's not MY fault you chose to come out of your world as a shrimp," he said. Truth be told, Figment was about one and three-quarters feet tall. He was SHORT. "And what are you talking about?" he added, raising an eyebrow. "Pikachu was smaller than you! And, besides, you haven't technically 'met' this girl Lilo yet."

Figment sighed, holding up his paws. "Yet again, I was only joking," he said wistfully, closing his eyes as he did.

Maru rolled his eyes. "Whatever," he said. "Well, let's get to work. We should figure out where to go."

Elliot and Figment nodded, and the three began to talk about what to start looking for--Heartless? Nobodies? Organization dudes? and the like. Well, Figment and Maru did, anyway; Elliot was too busy feeling the sun on his scales to put much thought into things. Suddenly, though, behind Maru, he saw something moving in the bushes. Well, he saw the bushes moving, anyway; he couldn't see what did it. He raised an eyeridge and looked over Maru's head to see better, then moved around them over to the greenry to get a better look.

"Elliot?" Maru asked as the big guy's arm passed over him on his way to the bushes. "What's up? See something?"

"I think," he said uncertainly, parting the bushes. He saw nothing, though, and found no prints. He could smell SOMEone there, however. He also saw a pretty relatively clear way in the jungle-like terrain. "Hey, why don't we just start here? Maybe we'll find something," he suggested.

"Going through the jungle? Erm...well, I suppose we could," Maru said, shrugging. "What harm could it bring?"

So the three followed Elliot as the curious dragon, still sure he could find whatever had caused that noise, led them through (and provided them with cover from much of the terrain, seeing as he was a living bulldozer with his wide front).

**Bit 12 (after FOUR PAGES): Hawaii**

The three traveled through the jungle, Maru and Figment watching with wonder behind them as the jungle seemed to revert to the way it was before Elliot came through. They were probably traveling on the fringe, since they could see open land through the trees. They eventually got to a place where they could see what appeared to be an animal shelter. Elliot was still looking around, but seeing the shelter reminded him of Lilo. "Hey, didn't that girl Nani say that she and Lilo were going to an animal shelter?" he asked.

"Yeah," Maru answered. "Why?" He came over and looked around Elliot. "Ah." They saw the door open and a small, blue creature come out. "Hey, what's that?" he wondered aloud. He then squinted. "...Wait...is that a...an aimi--"

Everyone jumped as shots from...SOMEthing rang out and the blue thing danced around to avoid them, quickly getting behind a rock. Someone laughed. "We meet again, my fine, little friend!! Ha-haaah!" It was a deep voice, and it sounded like it had a Russian-like accent. It came from the group's right, and Elliot saw who and ducked his head quickly to avoid being seen.

"What the...?" Maru carefully parted the foliage to see where Elliot had been looking. He found two strange-looking creatures, very different from the humans in this world, his companions, and every pokémon he could think of off the top of his head. One was large and had stumpy, elephant-like legs, a smaller, extra set of eyes, and bluish skin with more natural-colored parts, like his face and palms. He wore pants and a vest, over which was a messenger bag. He was setting down what looked like a ray gun, instead picking up a set of binoculars made to accomidate his extra eyes. He was the one who appeared to have the deep voice. Next to him was a skinny, shorter being with green skin and a little antenna-like thing on top of his head, which bore one large eye. He had three short legs and webbedish feet and hands. He wore a blue coat with shoulder pads decorated with gold tassles, which lent to its appearance of a marching coat. He currently looked stressed out at the other's actions and was probably unerved by him. "Woah..." Maru whispered.

Figment, curious, took a peek below Maru. He raised his eyeridges and said, pretty loudly, "Cool, aliens!"

Instantly, the green alien looked in their direction, an alarmed look on his face. Thankfully, Maru had hidden back behind the bushes and grabbed Figment from the bushes as well, a look of fury on his face and a responding look of nervous sorriness on Figment's. "Thanks, loudmouth," he muttered, narrowing his purple eyebrows.

"I think I heard something," said a high, insecure voice, presumably the slimmer alien. The sound of flopping footsteps was heard.

Maru gritted his teeth. "Crap!" he whispered. He looked around. There was too much of a clearing to their front, which was their right when they were looking out the bushes before. He knew that had to be a path from there to the hideout of the two aliens. Behind them was a thin stretch of jungle separating them from the unknown, possibly getting themselves into more view. He assessed the situation and what he could do for a split second before deciding. Still holding Figment, he dived into the trees, grabbing Elliot's arm as he did.

When the alien came to look, he stopped in confusion when he saw nothing but a thick, very exotic-looking vine sitting on the ground. He looked around, narrowing his eye and scratching his head. "Huh," he said after a couple seconds before leaving. When he was gone, Elliot's tail twitched about as the three pulled themselves back. Indeed, there was a steep slope and they had nearly fallen down it. Elliot could barely hold on to his friends and keep his tail still during that time. When the three were all back, Maru sighed before turning to Figment and swatting him on the head.

"Owww! Jeeze, I said I was sorry!" Figment whined, holding his head in both paws as he looked up at Maru, one eye squeezed shut.

Maru shook his head. "You still shouldn't have been so stupid," he admonished.

"For once, I'm going to have to agree with Maru on this," Elliot said before remembering that Figment couldn't understand him. Maru chuckled and translated for him, though. He blushed a bit, then raised his eyebrows and ears as he heard something again. The bushes that he had peeked out of before rustled. "Got you now," he muttered as, with surprising speed and stealth, he slid over to the bushes. He parted them and looked around, but found nothing unusual. The aliens were in their spot, the door to the shelter was closed, and nobody else was around. "Huh," he said after a couple seconds before starting to unpart the bushes. Then, the door to the shelter opened again. He raised his eyeridges and looked. "Hey! That blue thing's back!" he whispered.

Maru was back at the bushes instantly. Figment was behind him, but he kept his mouth shut this time. Maru looked and saw the blue thing--now looking a bit different than before; smaller, somehow--looked at the spot where the aliens were and taunted them, standing on his head and waving his butt at them. "Oh, you little..." Maru glanced over and saw the big alien charging his gun. The smaller one was starting to get antsy.

"Bark! Bark!" said a distant voice, and Maru saw Lilo step out. (The sound had reached him late--the blue thing, sitting down now, had barked a little before and Lilo had just started to come out.) Maru raised an eyebrow. "What the...?" he said before a shout was heard to his right and a shot was fired off into the distance. He looked and saw that the thin alien had diverted the shot.

"I have officially deemed this situation FAR too hazardous!" he said, waving an arm. His other hand was occupied with sticking a finger in the muzzle of the gun to keep it from firing. "Humans are an endangered species, remember?" he asked, and he dug into a pocket. He brought out a Viewmaster, of all things, and shoved it to the big one's face. "Here--educate yourself!"

The big one groaned and looked up to get better lighting as he looked at the picture inside the toy while the other one stood calmly, half-eyed, with a hand on his side while he kept his finger in the gun. "Grrr...He's using her as a shield!" He looked back down and angrilly shook his fist while yelling, "THIS IS LOW EVEN FOR YOU!"

The blue creature taunted again, laughing. This provoked the large alien to start charging down to him, slipping on the way down. The little one panicked and chased after, grabbing him eventually. Somehow, the two eventually ended up leaping to a side into bushes, out of sight, while the little one said, "We! Cannot! Be seen!" as they jerked around. Presumably, he must have tried to pull him away, and the big one pulled back until he flew away into the bushes.

All this time, the blue thing was alerting the others by barking again. He was now punished for "barking at nothing" by being squirted in the face with water by who appeared to be the store owner, a red-haired white (or, for you politically-correct sissies, Caucasian) woman with glasses and a green apron. The thing, obviously disliking it, rubbed his face in the floorboards to get the sensation out or something. Or maybe he was just acting weird.

Maru looked back at the others after viewing this scene, bushes still parted. "I have a feeling we've just found our business here," he said in a low voice.

"Yeah, I'll say! Look!" Figment said, pointing down.

In the clearing in front of the store, a few Heartless were suddenly appearing. Nobody, amazingly, had noticed them, and, even more amazingly, the dark beings were..."What are they chasing?" Maru asked, drawing his Keyblade behind him and glancing around for a safe, quick descent to them through the bushes, the opening through which he viewed held open by his other arm.

The dragons looked, but couldn't see anything, either. "I don't know," Elliot said. He then thought to himself, furrowing his brow while rubbing his bulbous chin with one paw. "Maybe it's that same thing I've been hearing," he muttered.

The store worker had closed the door. Nani had apparantly gone inside to talk with her, leaving Lilo, with the spray bottle, outside. Stitch was barking again, and she turned from where he was barking before to face him. "What's wrong, boy?" she asked, then turned her head to where he was barking. She gasped. "What the--?!" she said, backing up against the building.

Maru took that as his cue. "Stay here!" he told his teammates before jumping down the side of the hill. It was nearly a sheer drop (Wisconsinites and anyone else who's been to Noah's Ark, think The Plunge or The Point of No Return (and everyone else, go ahead and Google/Wiki it)), but he managed to, luckilly, slide down the sharp slope, avoiding foliage, until he hit the ground. As soon as he did, he charged towards the Heartless, fighting them. They were merely a few Neoshadows--nothing he couldn't handle alone, he thought. It would have given him good practice to use his new moves and spell, but he decided the less weirdness happened to that girl, the better. So, with a little bit of difficulty, he managed to beat them all with only attacks and chances. After he was done, he stood there, panting, for a few moments, looking around to see if there were any other ones he should fight.

In the bushes nearby the shelter, the two aliens blinked at the sight. "I see what you meant," said the larger one after a while, and the smaller one nodded. (They failed to notice the two dragons sneaking in the jungle, going through it to get around the area where Lilo could see them, getting closer to them.) "I would definitely not want to meet that man's strange weapon...nor those creatures that look like semi-stable anti-matter..."

The smaller one lowered his eyebrow. "I've never heard of those things before...but if it's something a human can take care of, we should be fine. Speaking of..." He produced a suitcase from somewhere. "We're going to need some disguises to travel among them. We need to blend in!"

Behind them, Figment and Elliot looked to each other, realizing the same thing. They nodded, then continued to keep an eye on things.

Meanwhile, Lilo had been standing against the shop, scared and yet amazed. Finally, amazement overcame fear, and she was rooting for Maru by the time he was on his last couple of Heartless. She now clapped for him. "That was COOL!" she said, trotting over to him. "Who are you? Who were they?" Stitch, with a look of reluctance, trotted after, scampering along with his short arms and legs more like a bug of sorts than a dog.

Maru blinked as he saw her approach so quickly. 'Most people would approach me slowly, especially after all that,' he observed. "Erm...I'm Maru, and those were creatures you should avoid called the Heartless," he answered. "But, uh, I don't think your mother would like to hear about them," he added. 'Let's hope that works...'

Lilo shook her head. "No, Nani's my big sister. Wait...Heeeeyyy," she said, narrowing her eyes and tilting her head to the side slowly. "Are you a spy?" she asked after a moment--during which Nani stepped out of the shop, thanking the lady inside.

Nani, hearing her little sister say that to a stranger (a very strange stranger, too), meeped and ran over to her. "Lilo!" she yelled.

Lilo turned around and waved. "Hey, Nani! I think this guy's been sp--" she began, but she was hushed by Nani putting a hand over her mouth.

Nani scowled at her before smiling nervously up at Maru. "I'm sorry, sir! She's just had a bit too much sugar today," she assured him. "I'm sorry if she's bothered you."

Maru smiled and nodded. "That's alright, she hasn't," he lied. "I get strange reactions from people all the time, believe me." He chuckled, trying to seem more nice than he really was and failing just a little.

Nani gave a nervous chuckle, then caught a glimpse of Stitch. Stitch was currently raising an eyebrow at Maru, especially his Keyblade, which he currently held slack in his hand so that the weapon tilted down at an angle. He quickly sauntered over to the bit, stood up, and put his front paws on it, inspecting it. "Hey, HEY! Paws off other peoples' stuff!" she hollered, grabbing the spray bottle from Lilo's hand and spritzing Stitch.

Stitch made an unpleased sound and backed off. Maru, though, chuckled. "Don't worry, he's just interested in my...euh...stage prop...that I just got done fixing up and am bringing to the theater for them to use again!" he improvised, secretly sweatdropping. 'Oh, damn, that sucked...This secrecy thing is always difficult to do...' Lilo gave him a skeptical look.

Nani raised her eyebrows at this. "Oh! You're with the theater?" she asked, standing up and releasing her sister. Lilo didn't say anything, but she did cross her arms and scowl at her big sister. Nani looked a little better, obviously realizing why he looked so odd--he was one of those weird actor people who are odd, but generally safe. "I see now. Sorry about Stitch...we just got him..." She looked down at him. Stitch was currently skulking around Lilo. Lilo cleared her throat, looking up at Nani as if waiting for recognition of some sort. Nani rolled her eyes. "Well, Lilo got him," she corrected herself.

Maru surpressed raising an eyebrow. 'I shouldn't ask what kind of dog he is...' "Interesting dog, that's for sure," he said. He stretched and sighed. "Well, I'd best be off," he said, and walked off. "Nice meeting you!" he called back, rounding the corner of the store. As soon as he was sure he was out of sight, he ran around to the other side, where he knew his teammates had gone to. He waded through the jungle, hoping he wasn't getting any ticks on him at all, and made his way to where he sensed them. He finally found them, but they all had to hide as soon as he got there to evade the aliens, whose names, as the dragons had learned, were Jamba--the big one--and Pleakley. The extra-terrestrials were now in disguise, and Maru would have been shocked to know if they actually worked. When they were gone, Maru said, "We need to follow Stitch. Whatever's going on concerns him quite a lot."

Figment and Elliot nodded. "Yeah," Figment agreed. He grinned and held up a few articles of clothing: T-shirt, jeans, a baseball cap, aqua shoes, and a big backpack that went from his back to his rear, which would hide the tail he would put up his shirt. "And me and Elliot are gonna use some disguises we managed to swipe from those two's bag of 'em!" he added.

Maru raised his eyebrows. "Did you take some lessons from Snake while we were in Melee Arena without telling me?" he joked to Figment as he put on the outfit. He had to smush his tail inside, but he didn't mind, seeing as he had planned out the outfit as mentioned above. Elliot was a bit more of a difficult fit, seeing as his tail was large and would stick out. He had chosen a pair of overalls, a long-sleeve shirt, big boots, and a hard hat--a construction worker. He hid his armor away beneath the clothing, which he knew would get pretty uncomfortable soon under the Hawaiian sun. He was able to shove his tail--keeping his armor on there, as well--inside his overalls in a way for it to pass off as an enormously bulky rear end, which was quite the feat given his overall largeness and the size of the tail. 'I wonder just how large Jamba is,' Maru couldn't help but wonder.

"Are you sure that you're not going to be discovered?" Maru asked when they were done. He crossed his arms and scrutinized them. "I mean, your faces are still...well, bright, we'll say." They thought for a moment, then the two looked around, saying they may have dropped--ah-HAH! A large, fake moustache was on the ground, which Elliot picked up, brushed off, and was able to attach to below his nostrils via a clip found on the back that, while it pinched a couple of his scales, worked like a charm. Figment thought for a bit after looking around and finding nothing else. He came up with the idea that he'd go around as a kid pretending to be a bandit and tied a supple, red-clothed, white paisley-print hanky, which Elliot supplied from his costume's rear pocket, around his muzzle, leaving only his eyes left. Maru hoped to God that it would work.

When the two were all ready, Maru went out of the jungle with them and they caught up to Nani and Lilo, trying to blend in as best they could. To their amazement, nobody really noticed them. 'Must be the tourism here,' Maru thought facetiously. Eventually, they reached an intersection where Nani had left Lilo to herself and Stitch for a bit. Lilo was currently in the middle of the road, talking to a bunch of young girls who had tried to escape on their big plastic tricycles. Maru saw a couple of strange people coming down the road.

Stitch must have seen them, too, because after a few moments, he grabbed his sheild and one of the girls' tricycles, hopped in, and blazed off. Maru yelped in surprise at this turn of events, then glanced over at the "strange people," who had decided to go under a bus stop. 'Jamba and Pleakley! Stitch must be running from them...I wonder if they're friends or foes...'

"Oh, great! He's loose!" Pleakly said. He was dressed as a woman with long hair, probably to hide both his antenna and to make it look like he had another eye, but it was covered by hair. He didn't seem uncomfortible looking like a woman.

"His destructive programming is taking effect," Jamba said, shaking a newspaper open. "He will be irresitably attracted to large cities and wreak havoc by backing up sewers, turning stop signs, and stealing everyone's left shoe."

Maru almost face-fell. 'Oh, THAT'S havoc, all right,' he mused, though the silly-seeming mischief was actually a bit serious. The sewer problem would be a nightmare in of itself, the reversed stop signs would trigger car crashes, and people will have to look for something else to protect their feet from the various bits of debris found outside houses and most other buildings. He shook his head and turned to his teammates. "We should probably follow Stitch, wherever he's gone," he told them in a quiet voice.

"But where to?" Figment asked, tilting his head.

The two discussed possibilities while Elliot kept an eye on Jamba and Pleakley. He soon heard a sound behind him, however, and he turned to look. He saw a window of a shop. Nothing unusual th--Wait! Something was banging on it! The curious dragon turned around and started to waddle (since he had to be careful not to tear his overalls with his tail) over towards it. The banging stopped, then he heard a scurrying sound. Another store window was banged, and Elliot knew what was going on. He turned, leaned over, and tapped Maru on the shoulder.

"Huh?" Maru turned and saw Elliot pointing. He saw the vibrating window and, after getting closer, heard the sound of it. "I can sense somebody there," he noted, as well. "Come on." The three then began to follow the sounds and signals of whoever it was. "Whoever's doing this, I hope it isn't leading us into a trap of sorts," he muttered.

The thing led them along until they were out of the town and on a lonely road. After they were safe from sight of other humans, Elliot loosened his overalls to give him some relief (but brought them up with his paws if need be) and the three were able to jog after the invisible person, who gladly led them onwards. It had eventually led them in the foliage on the left side of the road to them when they caught sight of a stone ledge overlooking the grand cliff below. It stopped. Maru and company looked about. "Where are we now?" Maru asked. He started and looked to his side. "Hey, don't go!" he said. "Who are you?"

The being just scampered off, however, and was gone within moments.

Maru frowned. "I at least wanted to thank you," he muttered bitterly. "Sheesh." He turned back to his teammates. "Well, what next?" he asked.

"Find out why we were led here," Figment answered.

Suddenly, the doppler effect was heard with a loud rrrring sound. The three poked their heads out of the vegetation to see a cloud of dust headed their way. Suddenly, it slid around into a powerslide and screeched to a halt, leaving grooves in the stone. The three dropped their jaws. "Well, I'll be damned," Maru whispered.

It was Lilo and Stitch!

Maru raised an eyebrow. "Well, this is just getting more and more interesting," he muttered.

Meanwhile, Stitch was looking puzzled, paw on his face while he thought for a moment. Lilo stood up and looked around. "It's nice to live on an island with no large cities," she noted softly, face calm.

At this, Stitch suddenly looked like he was having a seizure, writhing on the ground and muttering things in some weird language. Lilo looked down at him with a weirded out look on her face. "Are you okay?" she asked.

The hairs on the back of Maru's neck suddenly prickled up. "Oh, crap," he muttered. "Not here...No...No..." With bursts of darkness, the Heartless appeared in the road in front of Lilo and Stitch while Maru mumbled, "Shit," and jumped out of the jungle.

Lilo looked up at the sound of the Heartless appearing and gasped. "More of them?!" she asked before gasping again when Maru appeared. She looked at him quizzically. "You again?" She narrowed her eyes at him and pointed. "You ARE a spy! I KNEW it!"

Maru groaned. "Not now, kid! Just stay where you are!" he ordered. "Figment! Elliot! I can handle this on my own!" he said. "Now's not the best time, not yet!" He charged and began fighting the Heartless again--forgetting that he had just summoned the Keyblade in plain sight of Lilo.

Lilo gasped. "WOAH! How'd you DO that?!" she asked in wonder, oblivious to the fact she was in danger.

Maru groaned again. "You gotta be...Do what?!" he asked, grunting as he slashed a foe clear across to the cliff. He noticed that there was also a beautiful view of the ocean from here.

"Make that 'prop' you're holding appear like that!" Lilo described, pointing to the Keyblade and putting quotes around the noun with her fingers while looking unimpressed or skeptical or something.

Maru paused a moment, blinking, then face-palmed. "Baka! Oh, crud...Look, later!!" he said, spinning around and slashing away a Large Body. He looked to the cliff. 'That Heartless I launched down there still isn't coming up...I bet I can defeat them easilly by pushing them down there!' He set to work, realizing he'd have to clear the flying enemies on his own. He had to face a group of Large Bodies, some of those hook-bat enemies, Shadows, and other Heartless.

However, when he said he could deal with it on his own, he had made a mistake. After a little while, the Heartless were proving a bit too much for him alone, especially since reinforcements appeared after some of the troops were defeated. "Dang it..." he muttered.

"Maru! Let us help!!" Figment's voice cried from the jungle.

Maru shook his head. "No! Not yet! Wait until a REALLY bad situation!" he ordered. 'Not until we can at least be sure they'll be able to go about their lives like nothing's happened,' he added to himself, referring to the humans, 'or if that Organization gets involved...I have a feeling that much has yet to occur...'

Lilo gasped and pointed. "LOOK OUT!" she cried.

Maru looked up and gritted his teeth as a pair of Large Bodies were coming at him. "Oh, no, you--" He stopped short when he realized his feet wouldn't respond. He glanced down and saw two tendrils of black laced around his feet. He looked up in horror at the huge weights bearing down, the two Heartless having just jumped. 'I don't know if I could stand a double teaming like THIS...' "Aw, frig, N--"

BAM!! The Large Bodies were knocked away by a blue ball. Maru blinked and looked to his left. Stitch, having gotten back to his senses, was ready for a fight. He was unarmed, but he was a force to be reckoned with, nonetheless. He said something in some weird language even Maru couldn't translate, then set to work, becoming Maru's second partner from another world within that world.

Maru nodded and focused on the traps that had been set for him. He looked and saw two new Heartless behind him. They were like black, leafy tangles of vines, sticking to trees. From the leaves, they looked to be based off of poison ivy. They had wrapped vines around his legs to stop his movement, so he slashed them away (using a chance that was so obvious, he didn't need to feel it) and ran towards them, knocking each one gone in a matter of seconds. He watched as they tumbled down the cliff, then turned to see Stitch in trouble with a Yeoman Heartless--those bowmen Heartless mentioned before in Sherwood Forest, if you can remember that far back--firing at him. "Oh, no, you don't," he was now able to say, and, without thinking, dashed forwards and used "Nice shot!", the chance he used against them before back in Robin Hood's hood. (-sighs before letting himself get smacked for the awful pun-) He fired the energy arrow back at the Yeoman, defeating it with a well-placed headshot.

Lilo gaped in wonder at this. "Woah. My dog's fighting next to a spy who can do magic tricks," she stated in an observant and impressed voice.

The fight was made much easier once Stitch helped out with his clawings, bitings, ricochetting in ball mode in a way that would make the blue blur proud, and sometimes throwing one Heartless into another, even if they were a Large Body. Maru, finding it made life both easier and a bit more fun, worked on tossing them over the cliff edge, telling Lilo to duck once when he managed to do a Full Swing on a Large Body and sending it right over her. A few more Heartless down the hole, and the rest stopped, looked at Maru and Stitch, and disappeared. Maru panted and smiled. "Yeah...stay back...whoof...These guys are stronger...than I remembered..." 'Or maybe it's the fact I haven't set down a save disc yet so I can heal myself...'

Lilo slowly got up from her sitting position on the rock and came over. "Uuuh...Mister Spy?" she asked hesitantly.

Maru turned around. "Are you alright?" he asked. Stitch, alarmed his sheild might not be useful anymore, came scurrying over, still bursting with energy, to check her over.

Lilo nodded. "Yeah, I'm fine, thanks to you and Stitch, I think," she replied, smiling at her dog. She ruffled the fur on his head, saying, "Good dog!" Stitch sneered at her as she finished and turned back to Maru, but didn't do anything except rub his head. "What were those things?" she asked. She tilted her head again and looked skeptically up at him. "Are they...monsters?" she asked.

Maru bit his lip. 'Should I tell her?' He tried avoidance. "Nani will get pretty stressed if she finds out you're missing," he said. "You should get back to her."

Lilo gasped. "Oh, man, you're right!" She ran over to the trike. "C'mon, Stitch!" she called. Stitch came over and got back in the driver's seat, ready to pedal like mad again. "Where'd you learn to fight like that?" she asked him before he tore off, nearly running Maru over in the process.

Maru looked after them and sighed, nearly collapsing. "Okay, there'd better be something big happening soon or else," he panted. "I can't believe I'm saying this, but I can't take this much more..." 'There's something about Stitch that seems familiar, somehow...Something about the way his aura feels...'

"Maru?"

Maru looked up to see Figment looking worriedly out to him. "I'm alright," Maru lied; he was really as tired as hell. "Let's...Let's get back to where we came in...by Lilo's house...and set down a save disc, shall we?"

Figment nodded. "Alright...but next fight, we're going with, okay?" he asked. He cast a Cure spell for Maru just in case he needed it before they rejoined Elliot.

"Okay, but only if nobody else is around," the Keyblader said.

- - -

The sun had set by the time the three had gotten back into town. They were all just a little tired, but Maru was, thanks to his hardy nature (and the effects of Cure, which he gladly practiced on the way in order to help rejuvinate himself), ready for a fight again when the party passed by a luau, apparantly set up just for tourism. Tiki torches were lined up and people, mainly tourists--the tip-off to the purpose of the establishment--were eating what smelled like good food. There was also a small stage with a dried grass roof. A young man in grass leggings, a loincloth-like red bottom, a pendant of string tied around the center of a crescent-shaped bone, and a bare chest, with short black hair and a tattoo on his left arm, walked on, holding two sticks with balled ends. He was setting down what looked like a water bottle at the end of the stage when Maru and company stopped by the edge of the firelight of one of the torches relatively nearby the stage to watch and rest.

"What's he going to do?" asked Elliot, eyeing the man putting the ends of both sticks, held together, in the fire of one of the torches, instantly setting it ablaze.

"Fire-spinning," Figment answered after Maru translated, stealing his answer(which was going to be a guess, so Maru was glad that Figment had confidence in his knowledge). The little dragon grinned behind his mask. "I've always wanted to see someone do this in person!" he giggled excitedly.

Maru smiled. "This DOES look interesting," he agreed, sitting down cross-legged with the other two.

When the other ends of the sticks were lit and he was in center stage, the man suddenly held one in each hand and let out a loud warcry, catching people's attention. He then began to twirl the twin sticks around, drums playing as he did, and he seemed to be pretty good.

Maru and the others were having fun watching and savoring the moment to sit and rest their tired legs. However, it wasn't very long at all before the hairs on the back of Maru's neck stood up again. He widened his eyes, then growled, "Oh, for the love of--!" moments before, instead of Heartless, Nobodies appeared. They were only Dusks, but they were still a pretty big threat to people. They appeared in the space in front of the stage and on the stage, surrounding the fire-spinner.

"David!" yelled a girl's voice. Maru, who had stood and was about to unleash the Keyblade, glanced and saw Lilo sitting in a booth with Stitch, coloring something in a blank book with a red crayon.

'Damn! I bet Nani's here, too! She'll be suspicious if she sees I still haven't delivered my 'prop' yet...' Maru thought in a split second. He glanced up at the stage again. 'But I've got to--'

David, meanwhile, yelped in surprise as the white-and-silver beasts appeared out of nowhere while he was busy with being arched onto his back, head supporting him while he spun the sticks around. He actually smacked one in the legs with a spinning stick while he flopped over to his side in surprise, causing the Dusk to rear back a bit as if struck by the Keyblade or otherwise damaged. Maru raised his eyebrows. 'Hey...I think I have an idea...' He was pushing his cloak into his pants and wondering how he should enter when David stood up, only to get a torch knocked from his hand. It went spinning through the air, over the heads of the audience...right in the direction of Maru and the dragons. He narrowed his eyes. "PERFECT!" he whispered, then reached out and snatched the stick before it hit the ground.

The people in the restauraunt turned their heads to him. Maru resited a smirk and went for the serious look instead. 'They haven't left yet...They still think it's a performance, the idiots!' He nodded as the Dusks, finding the Keyblader, lined up, and he released his own warcry: "HAAAAAIII!" With that, he began marching quickly forward, spinning the stick around his body while purposefully striking Nobodies. He hit each one at least twice with the ends of the torch, and he found out that it took only four hits to defeat them as he made his way forward, spinning himself around sometimes to clear a path for himself on all sides. When each one was defeated, it quickly burned away as if made of rice paper. As he had hoped, the Nobodies followed him. As he went on, he decided that it would be best to get onstage so that it would appear as it it were only a performance, seeing as it would cover things a bit. He jumped on, twirl-tossing the stick as he did so that it flew up with him. When he got on, he caught the stick and looked at David.

David was gaping at him, but with the look in Maru's eyes, he knew what to do. He nodded, a resolute, serious look on his face again, and he looked out to the audience while holding his torch. Maru turned around and looked as well. Then, when the two looked at each other, they nodded and brought their flaming batons up and gave out their warcries together. The drums started up again while the two set to work, making it seem as if they were performing while still managing to strike the Nobodies as well, combining combat with entertainment. The crowd watched, mystified, as the two battled and danced around the stage. The dragons, especially Figment, were amazed at how well Maru was adapting to the situation. David and Maru twirled, spun, and tossed their sticks as they struck their foes, and they sometimes had to bend down or do other acrobatics to avoid an attack or to hit one in a difficult place. David, though he hadn't practiced any of this, was doing just fine with his improvizational performance in terms of making it look like he was performing, but he noticed that Maru was still more focused on fighting than performance, as he looked at their targets more than the audience.

Also, they weren't making any visible progress, as more and more came into the luau. 'Is there no end?' Maru thought, gritting his teeth. He tossed his stick up into the air, but a stupid Dusk floated forcefully right into it as it was trying to dodge one of David's attacks, knocking it into a new trajectory. Maru gasped as it headed to the edge of the stage, behind another Dusk.

A cry like a very squeaky-voiced stereotypical Indian war-whoop came from behind said Dusk before it was flamed out of existance. Maru looked and widened his eyes in surprise and horror as Figment had caught it in midair and was now on the stage, ready for his turn. A few of the people in the audience laughed. Maru glanced out at them, solidly amazed that they still thought that it was all a show. Maru glared at Figment and mouthed, "Don't mess up," to him before stepping aside to let a Dusk get its butt flamed by the tiny, spinning, twirling mass of fire. Maru raised his eyebrows, backing away so as not to get singed, while Figment went around like a whirling top of flaming death, striking low but good. He was using both paws on one stick, but that still didn't diminish his excellent maneuvering. Maru was genuinely impressed. 'Now, why doesn't he do that using his cards or something in a normal fight instead of just dancing around and throwing them, missing half of the time?' Maru thought. 'Things would go a LOT faster if he did...'

Sooner than Maru had, though, Figment lost the stick by tossing it a bit behind him, a look of horror on his face as he did. Maru skidded in and caught the stick again, getting up while spinning it around. He stood and glanced around the stage to see Figment standing well off in the sidelines, waiting for a good time to come in again, and David was having a time getting Dusks around him with only one stick. 'I ought to give him mine and stand back, hoping we're safe while he scorches their albino butts,' he thought. 'If they HAVE them, that is...' He twirled his around him to knock away Nobodies before calling out. David looked at him and Maru tossed his over. He overshot, however, and David couldn't catch it with one hand leaning back. It bounced out of his hands, bounced out of Figment's paws when he had run over and jumped to try to save it, and was caught inches above the stage by a paw so big, it took up two hands' worth of space on it. Maru, David, and Figment looked around and jerked back in surprise as Elliot, in his full costume as an amazingly portly construction worker with a big moustache, had now had the torch passed to him. The crowd laughed harder than they had when Figment came on. He made no waycry, but he did look resolute as he proceeded to impress everyone around him by spinning the stick around his girth slowly but rapidly, showing off hitherto unknown amazing manual dexterity. He passed it around his back, into his other paw, and back around front again before moving on to more walking and spinning the stick in one paw. In this little trick, he had destroyed five Dusks around him...and set fire to something sticking out of his pants. A LOT of fire. He quickly brought out a total of seven other fire sticks, all wadded up into one, one end already lit on each, in one paw, barely able to hold them even for his size. He used the one already in his other paw to light one on the edge of the unlit end of the cluster, making the bundle quickly flare up impressively, before, while spinning it, giving it down to Figment. Figment spun it and gave it to Maru, who spun it and tossed it up with better aim this time to David.

David finally caught his stick again and narrowed his eyes, ready for more action. He proceeded to launch an assault on the others around him with style, dual-weilding. The crowd clapped a little as he did so. Elliot then passed out two sticks to each of his teammates so that FOUR dual-weilding fire-spinners were on-stage at the same time. They then went and spun their fire around, creating intense heat while destroying more Dusks than they could count. After a little while of this, the Nobodies stopped coming, and the crowd clapped a bit louder.

David, seeing that they were all gone and that he was incedentially on center stage, stopped for a scant few seconds, facing the audience. In this time, unbeknonst to him and driven by some inexplicable urge, Maru, Figment, and Elliot went to spots on either side and behind him, respectively. They stood with sticks ready while David, with the drums quieting for a moment, started his performance once more. As soon as he did, the two on either side of him copied what he did while large Elliot, knowing that too much stomping around would shake the stage and upset their footing, stayed in place and copied. When David arced onto his head again, all three remained standing. Finally, when David stopped and picked up his bottle to squirt something inside his mouth, the three stopped, holding their sticks while they waited. Then, after David gave a feisty look to the audience, he spat out the fluid he had had in his mouth on the end of his torch. While he did, the three raised their sticks and held them apart and above them, tilting at an angle forming a vauge arrow up. At last, David took both sticks into one hand and stood still, cuing the others to do the same. The crowd ROARED at the great performance. David smiled and bowed, panting, while the others, at Maru's telepathically-sent request, bowed once and departed stage left with their torches. Suddenly, part of the roof, having been set ablaze by David's fire-breathing, fell down, making everyone jump and David start stamping to put it out. Maru wondered if they should get back on and help, but he wondered, as well, if they were in enough trouble already, so he merely crept around backstage. He found a bucket of water where he put his sticks out and motioned the other two to copy him.

"WOW," Figment said, fanning himself after putting his torches out. "That was pretty intense! I was afraid our clothes would set on fire!"

"I'LL say," Maru panted, wiping his brow. "I thought we were done for up there..." 'We managed to entertain them, somehow, and defeated the scads of Nobodies...Hey...How in the worlds am I ending up fighting on stages so much? First in MY world while it was being taken, then in Paris during the fight at the Festival of Fools, almost every time I used the Keyblade at Melee Arena, and now THIS? What, is someone out to make me a star or something?' (Talking about Paris, he did end up fighting a little on a stage amid the chaos of the first Heartless assault.)

"What surprised me was how I suddenly knew what I should do," Elliot described in as low a voice as he could while being audible to Maru. "And how we all did David's dance together."

Maru nodded. "Yeah, pretty amazing, but...I suppose things like that just happen sometimes," he shrugged.

"Well, that more than 'just happened,' if you ask me," said a male voice.

The three turned and saw David walking to them...half-blacked from putting out the fire on the stage. He was smiling, though. Maru blinked in surprise at him. "Are you okay?" he asked, looking him up and down.

David nodded. "Yeah, it's nothing," he dismissed, then gave an eyebrow-raised smiled as he stopped in front of them. "Why do I have the feeling that that was your first time?" he asked.

"Because it was," Maru said, shrugging. "We just winged it, I think...I guess we ended up getting caught in the moment." He bowed deeply. "I apologize if we ruined your performance."

David shook his head and hands. "Oh, no, you guys were great!" he said. "I actually want to thank you for putting on such a good show while protecting me from those...things...whatever they were." He grimaced at the memory of them.

Maru stood straight again, nodding. "It's our duty," he said. "I'm just glad that, if you insist the performance went alright, the whole thing came out good in the end." He wiped his brow. "Next time that sort of thing happens, though, I think we should have a bit more practice in, first," he chuckled. "So many close calls..."

David grinned. "Well, you guys did great, and I wanted to show you my thanks by offering you a free dinner here, if you're hungry," he said, putting a hand to his chest.

Maru and the dragons raised their eyebrows/eyeridges and the latter smiled. Maru bowed again. "Thank you very much," he said. "We are a bit exhausted. Just the chance to sit down would be greatly appreciated."

David waved his hand. "No problem," he said. "Follow me. I'll see if I can find you a seat."

- - -

Lilo was finishing up a crayon drawing when David had set fire to the stage. When he did, Stitch laughed and clapped while Lilo shook her head and finished it up. "Okay," she said, taking the picture and bringing it to Stitch, "I've made a chart for you." The "chart" was a crude outline of Stitch's body filled almost to the top with red. A key on the page said red meant "bad". Lilo pointed to the line separating red and white in the Stitch-outline. "This is your badness level," she explained. She brought it back to herself, noting, "It's unusually high for someone your size." She looked at it on the table, clasping her hands together and looking down at it with a serious expression on her face. "We have to fix that." All the time, Stitch didn't seem to be listening. While she spoke, he picked in his ear, came out with a ball of earwax, and flicked it off.

At this time, Nani, dressed up as a luau waitress, came by their table. She looked at them unhappily. "Ai-yai-yai, Lilo! Your dog cannot sit at the table!" She said this in a hoarse whisper, lowering her head to them as she spoke.

Lilo looked at her picture, set on the table, and said, "Stitch is troubled. He needs desserts!" When she said this last part, she smiled and raised her crayon-holding hand.

Nani collected their plates. She looked disappointedly at Lilo's. "Ohh, you didn't even eat your sweet potatoes!" she said with mixed annoyance and disappointment. "I thought you liked them..."

"Desserts!" insisted the girl.

"Uuuh..." Nani rolled her eyes and head in annoyance and walked off into a door with a "STAFF ONLY" sign above it.

Meanwhile, David was looking around for a vacant table. Incedentially, there was one near where Lilo was sitting. He didn't see her, however, as he got to the table. "Okay, you three, you sit right here. There should be a waitress coming in a bit for you guys. When you're done, tell them to put it on my tab," he instructed, pulling chairs out for them. (He had to pull out two for Elliot, who blushed profusely. They still creaked ominously when the dragon-in-disguise sat on them gingerly.) He then turned and started walking in the direction of the "STAFF ONLY" door, holding his head--which was still smoking a bit--and bearing a harried expression, showing his true feelings about the experience.

"David!" called Lilo, who smiled as she saw her friend. David looked up and came over. "Wanna see my new dog?" asked Lilo, pointing to Stitch.

David jerked to a halt when he saw the blue creature, a look of "What the--!?" on his face as he said something, probably in Hawaiian, that sounded like, "OH-ee?!" (My stupid TV's captions only say "oh!" so I had to take a liberty, here...Sorry if I insulted any Hawaiians out there!) "You sure it's a dog?" he asked uncertainly.

"Uh-huh," Lilo said, nodding. "He used to be a collie before he got run over," she explained. Just then, Nani came back and set down two cake slices on the table. With a happy expression, Lilo let out a "Yum!" and was about to start on her prey when both were snatched up by Stitch. She looked at him with a hurt expression and said, "Heeey!" while he chewed them. Promptly, Stitch spat the two confections out, piled them together to form one cake on his plate, reached into his gullet, pulled out the cherry that was on his, placed it on top, and pushed the plate to Lilo. Lilo, disgusted at this, raised her arm up and let out an "Eww!" at the regurgitated cake.

David, meanwhile, noticed Nani. He smiled and held his burnt hand up. "How's it..." he began, but faltered as she passed right by him. He said her name when she stopped and turned to look down at his burnt body.

"David, did you set fire to yourself _again_?" she asked in a low voice.

"Nah, just the stage," he replied like it was nothing. He then looked at her in the eye and said, "Listen. I was wondering..." He shyly put a hand on his neck and looked away while he spoke, obviously nervous. "If you're not doing anything...this--"

"David, I told you, I can't," Nani interrupted, looking annoyedly at him. She sighed. "I..." She looked over with worried eyes to Lilo and Stitch, who looked at her with innocence on their faces, before looking back at David. "I have a lot to deal with right now," she alibied to him.

"I know," David said, holding his hands up. "I just figured you might need some time to..." He trailed off as Nani sniffed loudly.

"You smell like a lawn mower," she commented, probably intentionally to point it out and not as an insult, before turning to a sound. David smelled his breath as she said, "Look, I gotta go. That kid at table three's throwing koi again. Maybe some other time, okay?" she asked. She sounded honestly sorry.

David looked after her, about to say something else, but he sighed and let his hand, raised in that "But wait!" way, fall.

"Don't worry," Lilo said, and David turned to her. "She likes your butt and fancy hair. I know--I read her diary," she said with a little melancholy in her voice as she flipped to a blank page in her book. Stitch, resting his head on one paw and letting his cheek slide up to bare his teeth as he did, took a bit of frosting from the cakes with an unhappily bored expression.

David looked up at his hair. "She thinks it's fancy?" he asked.

'She thinks it's fancy?' Maru repeated, looking at David's slick, short hair. He then remembered that not every guy in this world has big and/or spiky hair, like he's used to seeing. His attention was diverted when he heard a voice behind him. "Well, hello, again!" Nani said, and Maru turned around to see her looking at him with a raised eyebrow and a hand on her hip. "You know, I might just believe what Lilo said about you being a spy--you're sitting awful close to her," she said, smiling.

Maru chuckled. "Well, that's luck for you," he said, holding up a hand. He let it down. "May I please have a piece of cake like she had?" he asked.

Nani nodded. "Uh-huh. And for your...uh..." She stopped for a moment as she looked at Maru's companions, blinking at their appearances.

"They'll have the same," Maru quickly said, sweatdropping.

"Okay, but are you sure the big guy's up for it?" Nani asked in a low voice. "He looks pretty green..."

Maru batted a hand. "He's just got some stage make-up on him, still. H-He works part time as a construction worker and as an actor, and he's had a sort of rough day, never having time to change completely from one job's outfit to the other," he half-assed a moment after realizing he'd talked himself into a corner with just one sentence. 'Ah, the wonders of language...'

Meanwhile, while they were talking, Stitch, after brushing off the frosting with a bored "Blech" due to lost interest in it, had caught a scent. He made an interested sound and perked his ears up. He got out of his chair and saw, on the ground, a drumstick that was green with blue spots on it--obviously alien. It had a string on it, but he didn't see that. The hungry extra-terrestrial followed as it was dragged across the ground into someone's bag.

Nani nodded at Maru's explaination, took out a pen, and started taking his order down on a pad of paper. "Anything to drink?" she asked.

"Uh, sure, Sprite or whatever you've got for lemon-lime soda...would be..." Maru trailed off as he saw Stitch falling for the oldest trick in the book. "...Oh, you've got to be kidding me..." he muttered.

"Huh?" Nani asked, looking up.

Maru jerked his gaze back as soon as he'd heard her, hoping she wouldn't look and cause herself even more stress. "Nothing, sorry, spaced out for a second," he chuckled. 'Maybe 'actor' isn't such a bad title for me...' The thought made him blink as he realized that it applied to more than just the current situation. He caught a disturbance out of the corner of his eye while this had been happening, but the thought he had had diverted his attention again. It wasn't until a high scream filled the night air that he snapped back to reality.

Nani, being the worker at the luau she was and alert to any loud sounds signaling a possible unhappy customer, looked up and saw, to her horror, Stitch biting some woman's head entirely into his mouth while a stocky man tried to pull him off with no success. Gasping an "Oh, fuck" gasp, she threw down her pen and pad and dashed to the scene. Maru's eyes turned to worry as he watched for a moment. 'Honestly, as my powers get back, I'm becoming more aware of peoples' emotions, and this girl's stress ratings are making me lose my focus!' he complained to himself, shaking his head.

"SHOO!" Nani said again, and Maru paid attention again. She doused Stitch with a pitcher full of punch, which only rewarded her with a glare up at her and a deeper chomp on the woman's head in spite. Desparate, Nani grabbed Stitch and, after a brief struggle, yanked him off and fell to the ground, where she held Stitch down before he could get back to the poor, coughing...'Pleakley!' Maru realized, raising his eyebrows. 'I thought so! Stitch seems like a bit of a jerk, but...he wouldn't attack like that so abruptly unless provoked...would he?'

"Nani," said a deep voice. The waitress looked up and saw a man in an orange shirt and a crew cut standing with an unhappy face above her. "Is that...YOUR dog?" he asked as she stood up.

"Uh..." Nani began, holding her arm and looking guilty.

"All is well!" came Pleakley's falsetto, and the two humans turned to look at him. He was waving his hand and rolling his head a bit, trying to act like one of those sorta-snobby, sorta-obnoxious women. "Please, GO about your business, I'm okay!"

Nani didn't think so, though, and raised an eyebrow in worry. "Your head looks...swollen," she said.

"Actually," Jamba said, looking sideways at her (and making Maru wonder how the hell she couldn't see his extra eye looking RIGHT at her), "she's just ugly."

Pleakley started laughing. "He...He's joking...Ugly, look at me!" he went on, hamming it up a little bit.

"Uuuuh...This is not...working out," the man who was apparantly Nani's boss continued. He didn't look angry, totally, but he really was; sympathy was mixed in with it, that's all.

"Uh, b-but--" Nani began, trying to save herself, but her boss looked the other way and back again as he crossed his arms. A headshake. Her face fell, but she narrowed her eyes as she said, "Well, who wants to work at this...stupid...fakie luau, anyway?" She said this last bit as she turned and started walking away. Lilo and Stitch looked after her as she walked past. She motioned with her hand as she walked by them. "C'mon, Lilo," she said in a small voice. The two walked after her.

Maru got up from his chair. He picked up Nani's pad and looked at his order, then at her. "Well, I guess we should go, too," he said after a moment, absently taking the page with the order and tearing it up.

"What??" Figment asked, looking at him with wide eyes. "But we just sat down! And we haven't gotten our cakes yet!" He looked unhappy as he complained.

Maru sighed. "Figment, we've got work to do. Look...just think about what we said we'd all do after this is all done, remember? A nice nap in the warm sands of the beach?" He half-smiled as Figment sighed in content at the thought. 'I feel like I could use one, myself,' he thought. So, the three got up and left, telling David, who was standing there, dumbstruck to the state of idiot at what just happened, "Thanks, but we've got to go." They went out through the main entrance, which fortunately didn't ask them to pay or anything and went on their way to Lilo's house.

While travelling back through the jungle for a shortcut after finding their way along the roads, they encountered a couple of battles. Once was outside the animal shelter again, and again in a little clear spot on jungle route back to Lilo's. Maru let Terroge have a little fun while they fought the latter battle. A full moon was visible as they got to the house ahead of its owners. Maru and crew gratefully flopped down on the grass by their house in the shadows, tired as hell. Maru didn't even mind the fact he was resting his head on Elliot's belly. "It's gotta be the humidity here," he muttered.

"Yeah," said the two dragons, nodding while everyone fanned themselves.

They sat and waited, wondering if they should set up a save disc. Maru decided, yes, they should, and did so. They sighed in relief as its warm glow rejuvinated them and returned the energy video game characters usually have at all times, or so it always seems. Honestly, how do you think they can keep running full-blast all the time? They take rests during breaks between stages, when the player is on the pause menu, and while they save their progress! It took a while for me to figure this out, but while writing this--CHALKBOARD ERASER MACHINE GUN?! WHAT THE--?!

Maru: *anger-veining* YES! NOW, SHADDUP AND GET BACK TO THE STORY!!

ALRIGHT!! Just don't *gulp* shoot that thing...please...*ducks behind a chair* Okay, um...Where was I? Oh, yeah...uh...

Figment: *pops up from behind Maru* Give him a sec, folks; it was 11 PM when he got down here.

Uuuuh...*looks at page number* YOW! 20 pages?! Yeah, starting a new page might help...*Selects the dialouge he had prepared below and Ctrl + X's it*

Maru: *facepalm* Oh, come ON...

Hey! YOU try going back and forth between your tv and your computer with a flaky VCR remote and basically write a short novelization of a scene from the movie!!

Maru: Maybe YOU should let yourself half-ass it sometimes! The games don't always give out the FULL story; it'd take FOREVER!! What do you think you're writing for, a Metal Gear Solid game or something?!

Well, maybe YOU...

*The two start bickering. Figment sighs, sweatdropping.*

Figment: Yeah...Folks, when an fanfiction author starts bickering with his half-original characters, you know that it's the end of the chapter...

*A fight cloud breaks out, catching poor Figment inside*

STEEL CLAWS!!

Maru: HITMON DRIVE!!

Figment: _JAAAANE!! STOP THIS CRAZY THIIIING!!_


	19. 12: AfterDinner Hints

(FerreTrip and Maru are being kept apart by Elliot)

*anger-vein* Impatient little...

Maru: *anger-vein* Lazy little...

Figment (on top of Elliot's head) : Alright, guys, settle down...We moved to another chapter, we're moving on, okay? Now, can we just PLEASE get along?

*Sighs, stops struggling* Fine...but only if I get to sit on Elliot, since Maru destroyed my chair...

Maru: *sweatdrops* Er...FT? There're...uhm..._people_...reading this, you know...

URK! *BIG sweatdrop* Erm...Eh-heheh...Uh, ah...*flaps arms and runs side to side like a chibi, making a "XD"-like face* AND NOW, BACK TO OUR SHOW!!

Maru: *sighs and looks upwards questioningly* Why are all my fans the crazy ones?

*Stops scuttling, grabs Elliot, and hops on his new chair* Because we are. Now, anyway: *clears throat*

Maru, Figment, and Elliot didn't have to wait very long before Nani, dressed back into her street clothes, came with her little sister in tow, who in turn had Stitch in tow. "There they are," Maru whispered. "Should we approach them?" he asked.

"Yeah!" Elliot said, nodding. "It sounds like Nani's okay with you, so why don't you go and ask if you could stick around and help her after what she's been through tonight?" he suggested.

Maru blinked at his large comrade, tilting his head back (he was sitting with his back against Elliot's front, "because he's reasonably comfortible and he doesn't mind it, and I really don't feel like giving a damn right now,") to look up at him with a questioning face. "You've been really...active, I guess, in this world. Why?" he asked.

Elliot shook his head, narrowing his eyes. "Oh, I'll tell you later! Just GO!" He pushed Maru off of his belly, causing him to stumble right out in front of the two Hawaiians and one alien, as the group had gathered from his appearance and actions as well as the way Jamba and Pleakley regarded him. Nani, who had been morosely silent until now, started back and yelped. "Yike! Watch out!!" she shouted. "Tryin' to kill us or..." She saw who it was and raised her eyebrows. "...Okay, you're officially scaring me, now," she said.

Maru put his hand on the back of his neck. "I'm terribly sorry, ladies," he apologized. "I guess I kind of got lost taking the scenic route home..." 'I'm just making myself seem weirder and weirder...OH, how it was so much easier NOT lying my ass off this much!'

Nani raised an eyebrow. "Through the jungle? At night?" she asked, then chuckled, shaking her head. "You're something else, you know that?" she asked, moving on.

Maru turned to talk with her as she walked past. "Look, I know I must seem a bit...strange," he said, trying his best to look sympathetic, "but please, trust me. I, actually, after noticing your guys' lives, want to help you somehow, especially since you're now, well...jobless..." He gulped. 'And down goes the bomb...let's see if it hits us or water...'

Nani stopped, raising an eyebrow. "Uuuuuh..." she began, uncertain if she could trust him or not.

"He's okay, Nani," Lilo said. Her big sister turned to her. "He and Stitch actually protected me from these weird black things earlier today." When she said this, Maru paled and shook his head and hands, mouthing her to stop while Nani turned around.

Nani raised her raised eyebrow even more, looking down at her. "Uh...huh. Really, now," she said, skeptical. She crossed her arms and crouched down to her. "And what about him being a spy?" she asked.

Lilo nodded. "Uh-huh, yeah, he's a spy, too," she said. "But I don't think he's a bad spy. I think he's spying on us to watch out for us or something..." She raised an eyebrow. "That still doesn't not make him a stalker," she added, more to Maru than her sister.

Maru sweatdropped. 'Oh, Elliot, I wanna throttle you SO badly right now...Wait, this is the first time I've EVER wanted to throttle him,' he noticed. 'Huh. Guess that means he really DOES have something going on...' When Nani looked up at him, he floundered for a moment before deciding to laugh nervously and tell the truth. "Yeah, you got me, Lilo," he said. "I AM spying on you to watch out for you. And I thought I told you not to tell Nani about those things..."

"You told me not to tell about the FIRST time, not the SECOND. -I- was talking about the SECOND time," Lilo pointed out.

Maru blinked at the logic. '...She's good.'

Nani raised her eyebrow again, putting a hand on her hip. "So you're not really an actor, huh?" she asked.

Maru shook his head. "No, I am," he said.

"He's also a spy, a magician, and a fire-spinner," added Lilo, looking suspiciously at him.

Maru sighed. 'This girl is just something else!' he thought, feeling like giving up and blabbing about the Heartless and everything so that life could be easier on him.

Nani sighed, too. "Well, I think we need to have a little talk, it sounds like," she said, a little like a mother when she tells her child that he's in for a scolding later. "C'mon, up there's our house. By the way, what's your name?" she asked. "I never got it."

Maru bowed. "Call me Maru," he introduced. "I'll just run up to the door and wait, if that's alright."

"Go ahead," Nani said, and Maru complied. The girls started walking slow again.

While he was up there, Maru leaned over the side rail and glared at Elliot. ''Thanks for getting me in trouble,'' he sent. ''I think WE need to have a little talk later, too.''

Elliot sighed, shrugging.

"Did you lose your job because of Stitch and me?" asked Lilo, meanwhile. The three had just gotten to the beginning of the steps.

Nani smiled down at her and chuckled. "Nah. The manager's a vampire, and he wanted me to join his legion of the undead," she joked.

Lilo slowed to a stop on the corner landing and looked down a little. "...I knew it..." she whispered before moving forward up the steps again.

Maru stepped aside while Nani opened the door and turned on the light.

"This is a great home; you'll like it a lot," Lilo smiled and told Stitch, who got in, narrowed his eyes, and let out a hiss as he looked back and forth at his new surroundings. "See?" she asked, crouching down to him.

"Uh, Lilo?" Nani asked, stepping in and looking down at her.

Lilo moved ahead and grabbed a pillow. She did something Maru would generally not have liked and shoved the green couch pillow in Stitch's face(well, his whole body...these guys were SHORT). "Comfy!"

Stitch promptly growled, pushed Lilo down and taking the pillow, making her go, "Heeey!" again as he proceeded to tear it to shreds. Nani yelped and came over, Maru in pursuit. "Hey!" Nani cried, as well. "What are you DOING?!" she asked Stitch, wrenching the pillow away while Maru wrenched Stitch away with a bit of difficulty. 'Woah, what does this guy eat? He's heavier than I'd imagined...'

Lilo got up and came over to the two of them. "Be careful of the little angel!" she said, pushing against them a little. Maru lost his grip a bit and dropped Stitch.

Nani said, using a voice that was both harried and trying to explain, "He's not an angel, Lilo!" As Stitch curled up into a ball again and rolled away into the kitchen (with Maru following him), she hugged Lilo to her protectively and added, "I don't even think he's a dog!" When he was gone, she looked at her and let her go, saying, "We just have to take him back."

Lilo defensively stood up and pointed after Stitch. "He's just cranky because it's his bedtime," she reasoned.

Meanwhile, Stitch had gotten into the kitchen and was standing again, ready for trouble. While Nani said something else in the living room, Maru looked down warilly at him. "Now, don't you--" he began in a warning voice, but Stitch went and grabbed a drawer, pulled it all the way out, and dumped its contents before Maru could react. Lilo was walking in by the time he had grabbed the blender from the shelf.

"You're loose in the house all the time, and I sleep just fine!" Lilo was saying when she walked in and found Stitch. Stitch pressed a button on the blender, which was, for some reason, full of what looked like strawberry smoothie. "Heey, what are you doing?" she asked him accusingly as he lifted the lid and peeked inside curiously. He was promptly shot in the face with the fluid, causing him to jitter as if being electrocuted, sent to the floor while Lilo stood there, looking displeased and waving her arms while saying, "Stop that, Stitch!" Maru was trying to grab the blender away to little success, getting drenched in...stuff in the process.

Nani came in and shouted, "Heeey!" again. She grabbed Stitch away from the blender, which she turned off. As she stood and lifted the blue troublemaker up with difficulty, as he was flailing and trying to reach back to the blender, making incanine sounds that said he wanted to go on the ride a bit longer. "Look at him, Lilo!" Nani said, staggaring back with him. "He's obviously mutated from something else! We have to take him back," she insisted. She made her way backwards around the doorframe, which Stitch grabbed onto and tried to hold on, ending up making claw marks in the wood as he was pulled back. Maru ran to help Nani while Lilo trotted behind them.

"He was an orphan and we adopted him!" she yelled, coming into the hall. She saw Maru catch up to Nani, who had almost dropped Stitch, come and help by grabbing with an extra pair of arms. They were almost at the door. "WHAT ABOUT OHANA?!" demanded Lilo.

"Ohana?" Maru muttered, unable to help his curiousity.

"He hasn't been here that long!" Nani yelled back, drowning out his question as the two grappled with Stitch.

"Neither have I!" Lilo stamped her sandaled foot. She said in an arguing statement, "Dad said ohana means family!" At this point, Nani had just opened the door while holding Stitch with one arm, the latter having gotten tired enough for her to manage on her own. She looked about ready to throw him out. When she heard this, though, she stopped. After a pause, she slowly closed the door.

Stitch and Maru looked back at her and said, "Heh?" in confusion together.

Lilo continued on, "Ohana means family. Family means nobody gets..."

"...nobody gets left behind," finished her sister while Lilo said it, a solemn look on her face as she nodded and looked back at her sister.

"Or...?"

"Or forgotten." Nani looked up and said, "I know, I know." She smiled at Lilo and said, in a sort of playful sore loser sort of way, "I hate it when you use ohana against me."

Lilo just stuck her tounge out at her.

"Mmm-mm-mm," Nani stuck back, shaking her head down towards her. Stitch took the chance to rawr and break Nani's grip, surprising her as he flumped down to the floor.

"Don't worry, you can sleep riiiight next to me," Lilo said as she jogged off, Stitch following while scuttling along with his limbs stiff, resembling a bug or a crab (going forwards).

Nani groaned and settled down on the couch, holding her head from stress. Maru was about to set off after Stitch, saying he'd go and supervise her, when she said, "Oooohhh, no, you don't!" Maru was in the door frame out of the room with his back turned to Nani, and when he heard this, he couldn't help but cringe a little, caught red-handed. "YOU are staying right here, and WE'RE gonna have a little chat," Nani said firmly, pointing downwards while lying on the couch after Maru had turned guiltily around.

Maru sighed and shook his head, coming back in and sitting down on a chair. "Yeah, I'm sorry," he said. "I'm just a bit...antsy."

Nani gave him a skeptical look. "Mm-hm," she nodded. "Well, I'm just wondering: What's with you and Lilo?" she asked. "You're kinda acting like a pedophile stalker or something. And I know Lilo's a bit loco sometimes, but why would she say you're a fire-spinner and a magician as well as a spy?"

Maru sighed. "Well, I guess I must confess a few things," he said. 'What should I say? Should I explain about the Heartless? What?'

His pause made Nani drum her fingers as she looked at him. "You know, I've seen you outside with Lilo holding a weird key thing and panting like you just did something--or worse, THINKING of doing something," she implied, making the pokémon blush furiously before she continued, "Lilo said that you fought off 'black things' with Stitch--probably when I left them alone for a bit earlier today--and you appear both at the luau and right here at my home. Mister, I don't think you're in any position to hide anything from me if you want me to trust you," she informed him, sitting up and crossing her legs, leaning back into the seat.

Maru blinked at the list, then sighed. "True, true," he muttered, then acted like he was wrestling with the issue, which, really, he didn't need to act very much to pull off. 'What could I say?' he wondered. His mind was racing. 'I'm running out of ideas...!' Suddenly, he felt one of his pockets grow warm and heard a voice in his head.

''Shut up and listen,'' said the voice.

''Figment? Is that you?'' he asked him. ''When'd YOU learn telepathy?''

''It's not teleplay, or whatever. Listen: I'm by the living room on the outside of the house right now, and I can hear what you're talking about! I've got an idea! Listen and repeat what I tell you,'' he instructed.

Maru gulped and nodded. ''Okay, but you're toast if you end up screwing things over,'' he warned, then sighed. "Alright, alright, you win," he gave up, holding his hands up and smiling a little. "'I'm someone from a group that's not connected to the government or anything, one that exists to do something you might not believe.'"

Nani raised her eyebrow. "Try me," she challenged.

Maru nodded, then repeated, "'It's my job to help people in need that are being targeted by strange creatures known as the Heartless.'" He paused, looking like he was letting it sink in while Figment supplied the next lines. Nani raised her eyebrow. "'They're beasts who prey on peoples' hearts, and your sister's heart, since she's so young, is particularly attractive. I'm here because I want to protect her from losing her heart.'"

"What happens if she loses her heart, if what you say is real?" asked Nani. She didn't look like she was buying it.

"She'll disappear, becoming a Heartless, herself," he answered without Figment's help.

Nani raised her eyebrows. "Well, THAT doesn't sound good," she admitted.

"No, it doesn't," Maru said softly, looking down. "Trust me. The Heartless are the worst. They...They can ruin people's lives." 'Like they ruined mine.'

When he said this, Nani looked at him in amazement. "Woah," she said after a while. "I know you're an actor, but...I dunno if that was acting, I honestly don't," she said. She relaxed a smidgen.

Maru raised his eyebrows without raising his head. 'Wow, that was simple,' he mused. He looked up and cleared his throat. "Anyway, 'I want you to trust me and let me stick around to watch you guys for a bit, and I want to protect Lilo and you from the Heartless.'"

Nani tilted her head and thought for a bit. "Hmmmmm...Well, first tell me what's in it for you," she asked, still suspicious a bit.

Maru sighed a little aggrivatedly. "Nothing's in it for me, honest!" he half-lied. He hoped that she wouldn't catch it. "I also want to help because of the way your life looks at the moment, not just because it's my job to." This was basically the truth; Nani's stress vibes had been haunting Mewtwo the entire day, and it finally got on his last nerve. 'If she doesn't calm down, I swear, I'll never get any rest until I find the Keyhole.'

'And then what?' asked the little voice in the back of his head.

'Oh, not this again, not now,' he thought back. 'We can have another self-argument later.'

Nani breathed a sigh out through her nose as she switched legs. "Well, that's nice, but, apart from helping people, why does this group really exist?" she asked. Maru's little moment of emotion had softened her a little, but she was still suspicious and wary.

Maru surpressed a groan. ''We've really gotten ourselves up a tree, Figment,'' he whined.

''Shaddup! Lemme handle this...''

"Well, 'we want to--'" Maru began, but he stopped for a moment. He took the pause to act like he was yawning. '''Usher in a new age of light for all'?! Are you STUPID or something?!'' he asked Figment incredulously. ''She'll throw me out as soon as she hears that!''

''...Yeah, okay, that wasn't a good idea, but I'm half-baking this. I'm doing this because I dunno if you could do any better,'' he answered the question Maru was about to ask.

''I dunno at this point,'' Maru muttered as he ended his long yawn. "Sorry...'We want to defeat Heartless because they threaten world peace. That's really our aim--we're peacekeepers, basically. It's a bit of a side-job, too, so don't worry about paying us anything,'" Figment added for him to say.

Nani raised both eyebrows. "Really?" she asked. "You're a free public service?" Maru nodded. "Hmmmm...well, okay...but I'm going to report you to the police if you try anything funny on me, okay?" she asked, raising an eyebrow and waggling a finger.

Maru chuckled. "Trust me, acting funny is on the BOTTOM of my agenda," he said with truth that made Figment scowl outside. (Moments later, Maru realized he was being a hypocrite again, remembering his little act before leaving the gummi ship. 'Dammit! I SWEAR, it's the mew in me!!')

Nani rolled her eyes, smiling a bit at this despite herself. "Really, now?" she asked. She looked at his hands. "Well, what's this about you being a magician?" she asked. "And a fire-spinner?"

Maru chuckled. "Oh, you can ask David about the fire-spinning," he said. "That also reminds me, we're also around to defend you guys against things called Nobodies. Yeah, that's what they're called," he assured. "When a strong heart is taken, the body it leaves behind becomes a Nobody. The general rule is that the more human a Nobody is, the stronger its power, and the more monstrous a Heartless is, the stronger ITS power. They're enemies to Heartless, but they're just as dangerous. It's our job to keep an eye out for them, as well. They're tricker, since they're generally more intelligent than Heartless."

Nani scoffed. "Great, 'Nobodies,' now? Heartless and Nobodies...Really..." She sighed. "Personally, I'd say you're crazy and need help, but I'm going to keep an eye on you. If you can prove you're not going to hurt us, then I'll trust you."

Maru nodded. "Deal. Anyway, the reason Lilo says I'm a magician is because...well..." He took a chance, ignoring Figment's instructions leaned in close. "Do you believe in psychic phenomena?" he asked softly.

"Psychic phenomena?" Nani repeated. "You mean like moving stuff with your mind?"

Maru nodded, then casually grabbed the beaten-up pillow on the floor and brought it over, making Nani drop her jaw. "It's nothing too special, really," Maru insisted, physically grabbing the green thing when it came close. "I'm actually extremely good at using psychic abilities. Please, don't be scared," he requested quickly, holding his hands up and shaking them at Nani's terrified face. He waited a few moments before asking, "You saw 'Carrie,' didn't you?"

"Worse," Nani replied, backing up a bit. "I read it."

Maru made the "Oooooh..." face. "I'm not one for horror, myself, but from what I've heard, I can potentially do the stuff she does. But believe me--she takes the fun out of being gifted with strong psychic power, from what I hear," he chuckled. "That, and while we can be scary when we go nuts, I generally am able to control my power and make sure not to harm anyone if I were to go mad. Besides, I'm really not all THAT powerful, since I recently lost most of my powers to the Heartless," he blabbed. 'Oh, shi--I hope that wasn't too much...'

Nani started at this, surprised. "Wait, what?" she asked. "They can steal peoples'...powers?"

Maru sighed and nodded. "Well, either the Heartless or the Nobodies--I'm still not quite sure," he corrected himself. "But please, trust me when I say I'm not going to hurt people, trust me!" he insisted. "I may be scary, but I'm not as scary as the Heartless. If you ever saw what THEY can do--and I earnestly hope you don't--then you'd see what I meant. Once you lose your heart, chances are you might not get it back."

Nani put a hand on her chest, considering all of this information. "Well...uh...I guess what a friend of mine back in school said was true," she said, chuckling a little. "There IS more to the world than what we see..."

Maru sighed. "I think they were trying to get your goat, but they're also pretty much true," he said. "But please, don't think about this too much. Just try and take it in stride. The Heartless will move on in a while, and I'll be out of your life as soon as they have. You won't have to worry about weird stuff ever again. And don't tell anyone, since they'll think you're nuts or something," he added, chuckling a little.

Nani shook her head. "Oh, no, no, trust me, I'm not gonna tell anyone about this," she assured him. "The less I think about this time in my life, the better." She sighed and smoothed her hair back, lying down again while she thought. "...Alright, I give up, Maru. Go ahead and stick around to help us if you'd like," she eventually said.

Maru smiled, face brightening. "Thank you very much, Nani," he said, standing up and bowing deeply. "I won't let you down as long as I can help it."

Nani raised an eyebrow. "What's with the bowing?" she asked. "You from China or something?"

"Japan, actually," Maru corrected. "Don't worry, we get it all the time," he added.

Nani smiled a little. "Yeah, sorry..." She tilted her head. "How'd you get your hair and eyes to that deep a violet?" she couldn't help but ask. "Are you really an actor?"

"As a hobby," Maru lied. "And this is my true hair and eye color," he added.

Nani laughed, thinking it was a joke. Thankfully, Maru decided to roll with it, and she didn't ask for the real information.

A clock chimed. Nani looked around at it and sucked in air through her teeth. "Oooh, getting late," she said. "Would you like something to drink? Sorry for being such a bad host before, but..." She trailed off as she stood, starting for the kitchen.

Maru waved a hand dismissively. "Don't worry," he said. "I understand entirely." In his mind, he was cheering and dancing. 'I DID IT! SHE TRUSTS ME!! THANK YOU, GOD!! Now I don't have to sneak around anymore!! Well, not as much, but that's still great!' ''Thanks, Figment,'' he said to him.

''No problem! Oh, and the reason I could talk like this is through a special card I somehow picked up at Merlin's while you were busy flubbing Cure like a dingbat. It responds to your transforming card.''

''Hey, I'm not a magician, I'm a--'' He almost said 'pokémon'. ''--psychic,'' he decided. He held his head. ''Speaking of, this is starting to give me a headache. Head back to Elliott, I'll be fine.'' (Oh, yeah, I picked up _Pete's Dragon_ (FINALLY!! Oh, childhood memories...) and found that his name's spelled with two t's. If you think I'm going back and changing all of them, though, you're certifiable...)

Figment agreed and broke the link. Just then, Nani asked, "So, what would you like?"

"That Sprite would be nice," Maru said, smiling.

Nani tilted her head in confusion, then smiled as she remembered his order. "Sorry you had to see that," she said. "Stitch...well, we got him earlier today, as you know. He's...I dunno what he is. I'm gonna look at that later tonight. He's not a dog, is he?" she asked.

Maru shrugged. "I'm psychic, but I don't know everything," he said. 'Actually, I'm pretty sure he's an alien, but...'

"Oh, well," Nani said, digging in the fridge and pulling out a can of Sprite. "Here you go! That'll be 1.00, please!" she said, grinning and holding out the can as if on a tray.

Maru laughed. "Oh, great, and here I am, dead broke," he said, chuckling and reaching for it. He pulled back his hand. "You're not serious, right?"

Nani giggled. "Oh, man, I see what you meant about the funny thing," she said, giving the can to him.

Maru half-smiled as he opened the can, sitting at a table. "Thank you," he said. "But, yeah, Stitch seems like quite the little ball of trouble."

"He is," Nani said. "I'm worried about if Lilo made the right choice. He's a bit of an imp, really."

Maru thought for a moment. 'Like a mew...but more...evilish...' He shook his head and quaffed some of his soda.

"You should have seen him today," Nani went on, sitting down in a chair at the table with him. "We were out for a bit, and he went and ended up clocking a poor dog in the head with some shaved ice and serving a volleyball at someone's head when we were on the beach after the ball bounced towards him!"

Maru nodded his head as she spoke. 'Yeah, more evilish.' "Well, thank you for the Sprite," he said, "and for trusting me, but I've got to leave for a bit, now. I'll be around, however, so don't worry."

Nani nodded. "Right, right," she said. "So you've got a place outside of here? What, a hotel or something?" she asked.

Maru tilted his head. "Mmmm...yeah, I guess you could say," he said. "If you call sleeping under the stars while caked with bug dope a hotel."

Nani raised her eyebrows. "Oh! Maybe you could sleep on the couch?" she suggested.

Maru politely shook his head. "No, I'm fine; thank you very much, though, truly." He stood up, finishing his soda. He looked at it for a second. 'You know, I never did have a lot of this stuff before back home...I hate to say it, but I think I'm starting to like it, despite the fact it's poor health in a can.' He smiled to himself and crushed it in his hands. After asking where the recycling was, he put it there and turned to go. "I'll be back in the morning, don't worry," he said. "If you need me, just scream like hell," he half-joked.

"Eh-heh-heh, yeah," Nani nervously laughed. She stopped and looked at Maru, who was a little shorter than her. "How old are you?" she asked.

Maru stopped, struck by it. 'You know, I never thought about that,' he thought. 'How old AM I?' He looked at himself for a second. "Ah, 16," he said, really guessing. 'So smart, but still so stupid...I guess it's a bit of a fitting age.'

Nani laughed. "Oh, man, and I'm 21! I was getting the living daylights scared out of me by someone who's just old enough to drive!" She shook her head. "Sorry, but at least I feel a bit better." She waved her hand in a shooing manner. "Well, good night, thanks for coming, and see you tomorrow, I guess," she said.

Maru nodded, holding his hand back in good-bye. "Good night, and good luck on handling Stitch," he bade, walking out the door.

"Thanks," Nani said weakly, turning to get a phone and to look for a book.

- - -

Maru: *points up and back* _See?_ **NINE** PAGES OF CUTSCENE!!

Oh, shut UP!

Figment: Guuuuuyyys...

FerreTrip & Maru: Okay, okay...

- - -

When Maru stepped outside, he immediately jumped over the railing to the left side of the house. The save disc they had set down was one of those temporary ones, which explained why it was able to not be there anymore. He didn't see Elliott or Figment, so he sensed for them. He found them in the jungle, for some reason. Grumbling about his partners, he climbed into the bushes, wandered through the foliage, and climbed up a slope until he came to a small clearing. As soon as he came out and found his comrades, he also found they were pretty nearby, of all people, Jamba and Pleakley. He stopped himself from yelping in surprise and crouched down near Figment and Elliott. They had also set up a permanent save disc in their spot.

"What's with the stone's throw away to them?!" demanded Maru in a whisper, looking uneasilly at the dragons.

Figment shushed him. He was out of his costume. Maru also found, to his surprise, that they had brought down some, as he had said to Nani, sleeping bags and bug dope. He handed the can to Maru as he whispered back, "They can't hear us if we whisper--we're farther away than you'd think. Just don't do anything stupid, and we'll be fine--they could still look back and stare for a few seconds and they'll be able to see us."

Maru nodded, spraying on the essential stuff gladly. He disliked bugs, being a Psychic-type. "If you guys could, I'd insist we all use telepathy," he said, handing back the can. He sniffed his sprayed arm and wrinkled his nose. "Sure they can't smell us?" he asked.

"I'd be surprised," Figment said. "There's so many scents coming from the flora around here..." He sniffed it in and sighed contently. "Oh, it just sparks my imagination...It's making me think of adventures in the tropics! More than this one's been...So far, I don't think I've been having very much fun, sneaking around so much. Where are all the Heartless, too?" he asked, looking around. "I can't believe it, but I kinda wanna fight some..."

"There were some in that clearing in the jungle path, remember?" Maru thumbed. "We could head there tomorrow morning for some morning excersizes if you'd like. I kinda want to, too."

"I actually would join you," Elliott said as soft as his language could allow. He was naked, no armor or clothes or anything (there was nothing to see, though, trust me), and lying on his stomach while watching the two aliens ahead of them. He brought up his tail and rubbed it, looking worriedly at it. "My poor tail is all cramped from being shut in those clothes all day," he mourned.

"Sorry, but until things get to the BIG Heartless stage, I dunno if revealing I'm travelling with a pair of dragons would be a good plan," Maru said, truly sorry. "The more normal I seem, the better."

"After telling her and showing her you're psycho?" Figment asked, holding his paws up and smiling sarcastically. "Oh, yeah, like we wouldn't be that bad. Especially Elliott--he's a big sweetheart. Though I probably wouldn't fit well with her--I'm a bit of a troublemaker, myself!" He sniggered.

"Hey, I've been known to cause a bit of trouble, myself," Elliott pointed out, surprising Maru.

"Really?"

"Yeah--I actually can't help myself sometimes," he confessed, grinning sheepishly. "Don't know why, really."

Maru blinked and tilted his head. "But you're so...calm, most of the time," he said, confused. "If you're mischeivous, why hide it for so long?"

"Because...well, you're kinda...well...not that easy to feel natural around," Elliott answered, shrugging. "Sorry, it's the truth."

Maru raised his eyebrows, then blushed and rubbed the back of his neck. "Yeah...I know what you mean," he muttered. He looked away. 'I still find it hard to be around people, myself.'

At this time, Jamba, who had set up some bi--well...tetroculars, I suppose, since he was a four-eyes...regardless, Jamba saw something in the window of Lilo's room, where some destruction had taken place, Maru later learned. He was setting down a sleeping bag by Pleakley, who was, for some reason, bandaged up like a mummy, his eye the only visible part on him. "You know something?" Jamba asked, furling out the sleeping bag.

"What?" asked Pleakley.

"626 was programmed to destroy," said the large alien. "I designed him to be perfect for doing that, but nothing else. That is his only function."

As Maru overheard this, he froze. 'Wait...626...Stitch is 626...? He was...He was created?! Like me?!' He turned and listened harder to Jamba.

"Now...there's nothing left to destroy," Jamba noticed. "He took care of all the things in that girl's room that were fit for destruction...but now what? I wonder how it must be...to have nothing..." He lay down on his sleeping bag, pulling a blanket on top of him (but it didn't cover much of him, he was so big). "No family...no friends...not even memories to visit...How terrible it must be to be all alone...with no one else in the world..." He settled in a bit. "I feel a little sorry for him."

Pleakley was silent for a moment. "Well, does he have a heart?" he asked. "If he doesn't, then why worry?"

"No," answered Jamba. "At least, I didn't put one in...Then, well...Science has yet to understand the heart and its many mysteries. I've heard rumors of those who have tried, but the results..." He trailed off. "I don't know if 626 has a heart or not for certain, but if he does...it doesn't seem to be a very good one..."

The conversation stopped there. Maru, curious, stood up and looked over through the foliage to the window. He couldn't see that well. 'I wish I had some binoculars...' he thought.

"Awww, poor little guy," Figment said beside him.

Maru looked and saw him holding a pair of binoculars almost as big as him. Instantly, he snatched them away, snapping the purple dragon's mouth shut with one hand while he held them in the other, turning the adjustment knob with telekinesis. He saw Stitch standing there, clenching and unclenching a paw and looking around, a helpless expression on his face. He then decided to look through Lilo's bookcase for some reason. Maru was stunned. "I don't believe it," he whispered to himself. "He's just like me..."

"Huh? What do you mean, Maru?" asked Figment.

Maru shook his head. "Nothing, nothing," he told him. "Just muttering." 'He's got to be the 626 Jamba was talking about. He's a created being, just like I am...and, like me, he was made for destruction...in our own ways, of course, but we're the same in that respect. He's also like me in that...now...he's found that there's no need for his original purpose now...Is he looking for a greater purpose, like me? Or is he seeking...Wait...he's seeking identity...isn't he...?' He recalled what Jamba had said. 'No family...Maybe he's...looking for a family? Someplace to belong...?' Maru stopped paying attention to what he was seeing.

'Just like me...he's searching for somewhere to belong...' he realized. 'I'm searching for a place I belong, aren't I? Is that really why I'm going across these worlds? To find one I can fit into?' He shook his head mentally. 'No, I'm supposed to be in my world...but where? There's nobody else like me. There never has been...never will--'

An image of Ambrexi flashed through his head.

'...They're just fucking with me. That's GOT to be it,' he told himself. 'There's nobody like me. If there was, then...then I'd know. I've been looking for every sign of pokémon cloning, and so far I've found nothing. She can't be a clone of me...unless...my power...?'

He shook his head physically now. 'I've got to stop thinking about this,' he told himself. 'But I can't ignore this fact...' He observed Stitch waking Lilo up and showing her a picture in the book he had just gotten out. Maru clenched the binoculars tightly. 'Stitch and I are one and the same: Creations of a destruction-oriented mind thrust into reality without a real point anymore and without anyone to call family.' From then on, Mewtwo swore to protect and help Stitch in any way he could--he had discovered a bond that was very important to him and he did not want to let go of it.

He watched Lilo hold up a record after Stitch had climbed into a pineapple crate that had been turned into a bed, then wondered if Nani knew her sister was about to possibly wake her up (he noticed that there were now no more lights on in the house). He put the binoculars down and turned to grab a sleeping bag. "Stitch..." he muttered to himself as he floofed it out, checked it for bugs, and crawled in himself. "Good night, you guys," he said afterwards, and lay down his head.

"What? You're going to bed?" asked Figment, who appeared over Maru, having crawled on top of him. "But we haven't done anything FUN yet! We still have to roast marshmallows, sing campfire songs, tell ghost stories..."

"If you don't shut up, I'll tell you the story of Ringu and make you never want to watch TV ever again," Maru threatened, looking up at him half-eyed.

Figment's face brightened. "Ooooh! I LOVE how the imagination gets used to scare the pants offa people!" he squealed quietly.

Maru groaned, but he was saved when Elliott, sitting up in what had to be the world's largest sleeping bag, grabbed Figment's mouth shut, turned him towards him, and made the "zip it" gesture. Maru fought laughter at this while Figment just hmphed and fluttered off to his tiny sleeping bag. "I see what you meant," he said to his large comrade.

Elliott humphed, smoke coming out of his nostrils a little. "Well, I'm trying to sleep, and I don't like it when people act like horror movies are exciting adventure movies..." He looked up thoughtfully. "Though, I'll admit, I'm not that familiar with very many movies, myself. But I don't like scary stories, though," he asserted. "Good night, everyone," he bade kindly, though, smiling at the two before crawling back into his bag, becoming a huge, breathing mound of red fabric and white trim with yellow zipper, Kingdom model colors (evidently, these were from the Gummi ship).

Maru sighed, said good-night again, and went into his.

A moment passed, and Figment noticed, "Hey, just because we're sleeping out now, it doesn't mean we're still not going to have our little beach fun, does it?"

Maru and Elliott blinked a moment in their minds before Maru said, "Ask complicated questions in the morning. Good night."

"Okay," Figment said.

Crickets chirped and a few leaves in the trees rustled as a few more moments passed.

"Do either of you snore?"

"GO TO SLEEP!" dull roared Maru and Elliott together.

"O_kay_, o_kay_, sheesh..."

- - -

Maru, Figment, and Elliott awoke to the sounds of the jungle and the morning light filtering through the trees. Elliott sat up, yawned and stretched, and scritched his big front while smacking his tounge and mouth. Figment got up and yawned and stretched like a normal person, then sat and looked around him while his eyes adjusted to the daytime environment. Maru rubbed the sleep out of his eyes before he yawned and stretched like a cat does after a nice nap. "Mmmmmm, oh, do I feel good," he murmured as he did so. He stopped and sat up in his sleeping bag, looking around. "Hey, this place is beautiful in the morning," he noticed. He then noticed he was getting strange looks from his companions. "Wh-What?" he sweatdropped.

Figment and Elliott each held up a claw, hesitated, then shook their heads, saying to nevermind.

Maru raised an eyebrow before getting up and out of his sleeping bag. He had stripped himself of all but a pair of white-and-pale blue-striped boxers he had on under his shorts the night before. He had shoved it all into the end of his sleeping bag, and he now went to retrieve it. He put on his shirt first, then his shorts, which he kept on with his belt (they were actually a little big for him). He then went through the trouble of reattatching the leggings, attatching the ribbon-net pockets via their buttons and zipping the leggings on. He put on his socks and laced up his shoes. (Here, he had a little trouble, since, being a pokémon that always Transformed into clothing, he had never tied his shoes before. He was smart enough to figure it out fast enough to make it look like he was just pausing for some reason, though--or, really, Navi fluttered up and whispered instructions in his ear, making use of the bright sunlight to hide her. XP ) He then put on his gloves, tightned the straps on them, and finally put on his cloak.

Before he did, he held out the sheet of durable brown cloth in front of him and paused as Figment and Elliott both said, "Huh?" He looked at them. "What?" he asked again.

Elliott pointed at his cloak. "It's just one piece of cloth?" he asked in amazement.

"Yeah, it's just one piece of cloth," Maru answered, smirking, as he began folding it around his neck. "It's a handy--as well as rather dashing--cloak, if folded properly. Durable, matchable to any outfit, and able to protect against the elements fairly well, it's become quite a friend of mine. I took it up when I was in my world because one day was pretty chilly. It took a while for me to figure it out, buuuuut..." He took his hands away from the collar he'd just made and tugged on the cloak itself a few times before he was satisfied that it was finished. "...I soon found myself a handy way to stay warm if I need to, as well as a great inventory item and a cool accessory. I've been wearing it for a little over a year...washing it, of course!" he added, pointing at Figment before he could crack about it.

"Well, I'm just glad you're a resorceful fashionista," Figment said, smiling and putting his hands on his hips.

Maru growled, but decided not to bother and went about stuffing his pockets and cloak full of items again. He had put them in the VERY bottom of his sleeping bag. Navi flew into her spot in his cloak when he was all set. By the time the Keyblader was ready, his companions were ready, as well. They weren't in their costumes yet, but they were ready for battle. He smirked. "You guys ready for a bit of morning excersize?" he asked.

To his surprise, they nodded. "Yeah! I'm bored!" Figment said. "I wanna have SOME fun today!"

Maru put his hand behind his neck. "Sorry about that," he apologized. "You guys are going to have to stay in disguise again today, too." He sighed, holding his hands up as he shook his head. He looked over to where the aliens were the night before and blinked. "They're gone," he said in surprise.

The dragons looked and started a bit. "But...when'd they get up?" asked Figment.

Maru blinked, looking at how easily they could see the (well-cleaned) campsite and at how easily someone could spot their bright sleeping bags. He slowly looked at his companions. "I'll be damned if they didn't notice us," he said gravely.

Elliott shrugged. "Well, if they were hostile towards us, they'd've tried to hurt us by now, wouldn't they?" he reasoned.

Maru hummed in thought, repeating the green dragon's words when the purple dragon asked him for a translation. "...I suppose you're right," he gave after a moment. He then thought of something and grabbed up the binoculars off the ground where he had left them. He looked and saw that Lilo was still asleep in her bed. "I don't think anyone else is up yet," he said, putting the binoculars down. "We've got time, then!" He smirked and held up a fist. "Let's get us some Heartless now, huh?" he asked. The other two gladly agreed.

"Yeah, I could finally get a good look at those vine Heartless today with the broad daylight," Navi said, coming out of Maru's cloak. She followed them as the party went down to the jungle path. With the amount of traffic it had seen recently, it was pretty clear of debris. Maru worried if that would affect the environment much, but he had to admit that it was already fairly clear to begin with. They made their way to the clearing in the jungle.

"Come on...come on..." Maru muttered as they approached. Then, for the first time ever, the sounds and sights of Heartless appearing in front of him made him pump his arm and go, "YES!" He grinned and called out, "GOOOOOOD MORNING, HEARTLESS!!"

Navi flew up in front of them before they set on their prey. "And how would you gentlemen like your Heartless butt this fine Hawaiian morning?" she asked like a courteous waitress.

Figment flicked up a Thunder card in his paw, grinning meanacingly. "Fried!"

Elliott snorted out some smoke, smiling mischevously. "Hard boiled!"

Maru summoned and twirled the Keyblade around his hand, smirking a dangerous Mewtwo smirk. "Scrambled!"

Navi sighed. "Oh, dear, I just realized you'll have to prepare them yourselves," she pouted.

"GOOD!" said the three boys in unison, and they ran out to whup up some Heartless rump roast.

Navi watched after them as they charged onwards and blinked at everyone's, including her, actions. "Wow," she said. "It's amazing what a good, proper night's sleep can do for a person's mood." After ducking from a Powerwild's capturing dive, she hauled twinkling butt back to Maru's collar.

The morning was quiet once again a good Heartless-bashing later. Maru panted a little, then turned to his comrades. "Well? Get enough excersize?" he asked, smiling a bit. He was returned with a positive response, making him chuckle. 'I think I'm rubbing off on them somehow,' he mused. "Well, I think that's enough for this morning. And, I'm sorry to say, you're going to have to get back into your disguises," he added as he walked over to them, a little bit of sincere sorriness on his face as he spoke.

The dragons drooped their heads and went, "Awwww..." before nodding and smiling a bit. "We understand," Figment said. "I just wish that we could be able to walk around freely."

"I do, too, believe me," Maru said, rolling his eyes. "I'm tired of cooking up lies for Nani and Lilo. It's amazing just how nosey they are, really, it is." He sighed. "Speaking of, I'm going to head over there now. I said I'd help them out, so I'd better start. You guys go back up and get changed," he instructed, pointing to the path from which they had come. "We've got food on the gummi ship, right?" he checked.

"Yeah, but it's not the best," Figment grumbled. "Should we get you some breakfast? Or will you be fine if you hit the save disc?"

"I'll see if I can mooch something off of them," Maru chuckled. "If I can, I'll try and sneak you guys something, too. I plan on introducing you to them today at some point, though, so you don't have to hide more than you did at Sherwood and Paris combined."

Figment gave him a half-eyed look with his arms crossed as he slouched and tapped his footpaw. "We've ALREADY done that," he pointed out. "A whole day? How can you beat that? And we're still hiding, anyway," he added, "if you think about it."

Maru did think about it. "Yeah, you're right," he agreed after a sec, raising his eyebrows in a sorry fashion. "Sorry. I don't know how Donald and Goofy could pass as normal, but I'm pretty sure it's the fact they were a duck and a dog, not a pair of creatures people consider mythical."

With that, Maru and the dragons parted ways. The Keyblader went through the main jungle path back to the house while the other two went up to their campsite. Maru found the front door was locked, and although he knocked, nobody answered. He went around back and peered through the windows. Nothing there but the kitchen. An idea struck him as he glanced at the stove. "Hmmm...Well, if I want them to see I'm trying to be helpful, I don't see how cooking them breakfast could go wrong," he reasoned, easily undoing the lock with telekinesis. He opened the door, approached the cluttered range, and sweatdropped. "Oh, dear," he muttered. "Maybe not..." He shook his head and carefully cleared off two burners, anyway.

- - -

"Nani?" Lilo asked.

Nani woke up and turned her head to Lilo. She was in her room, which had red wallpaper, the sun brightening the chamber thus enhancing its warmth. "Huh?" she asked. She saw Lilo standing beside Stitch, a phonograph between them.

"Watch," Lilo said in her strange, sort of drab way. She put a record on and, instead of a needle, put Stitch's claw in a groove. She gave a "one second" gesture to Nani before opening Stitch's mouth like a hatch. As soon as she did,

_"We can't go on together...On suspicious minds (On suspicious minds!)"_

Elvis Presley's "Suspicious Minds" played out of Stitch's mouth as if it came out through the horn on a normal phonograph. Nani looked with a shocked expression, probably amazed, disgusted, confused, and overall "WTF?" about the sight as Lilo opened and closed Stitch's mouth a few times. Then, a knock on the door caused Nani to jump out of bed and Lilo to close Stitch's mouth as her big sister, who had enough clothing on already to be acceptable, ran past her to the front door.

When she opened the door, Nani saw a bald black man with black glasses and a black suit at the door. She couldn't help but let out a horrified gasp. Maru, who had just put on some bacon and was about to scramble some eggs, heard this and peeked out the kitchen. He saw Nani and the man, who were talking about something. "Oh?" he muttered, raising an eyebrow as he leaned back in and broke some eggs over the other pan, checking the bacon to see if he should flip it. 'Is that an Agent?' he thought at first, but he shooed it off after recalling that the Agents' suits were a bit different. They had shoulders and crotches that were a lot more flexible than normal suits' shoulders and crotches, which allowed them to execute their fancy moves better. (Thank you, some guys on YouTube who cosplayed "September" in suits and pointed out that the Agents' suits must be different!) He glanced out the doorframe again and saw Stitch walking along with a big book in his paws, for some odd reason. Maru noticed the book looked a bit hard (not in difficulty) and scrambled from the kitchen before something bad happened.

He was too late. Stitch, after giving him a narrow, thinking gaze, tossed the book right at the all-black man's head, knocking off his shades. "STITCH!" Maru cried disapprovingly, running towards him. He had to dance around Lilo as she came running down the stairs and bowled past him. "YEE-hee-hee! Careful!" he squeaked when she did.

Nani made a look that would have registered either a blue-lines-on-face or a sweatdrop if it were an anime. "I'm sorry, Mr. Bubbles, I really am!" she said, pulling Stitch back.

Maru stopped and blinked. "'Mr. Bubbles'?" he mouthed, raising an eyebrow. 'And I thought Figment had a weird name...'

Mr. Bubbles just glared and looked down. "And WHAT is THAT?" he asked testilly, pointing at Stitch.

Lilo came and pushed past everyone. "That's my puppy!" she said brightly.

"Really," he said to Lilo in a tone that would be appropriate if "Oh," was put before "really", picking up his sunglasses. He sighed and looked at Nani. He opened his mouth to speak when he noticed Maru standing in the hallway. He raised his eyebrow and a nostril at Maru's appearance. "And who are YOU?" he asked.

Maru bowed. "Maru. I just met this family yesterday afternoon and, after talking it over with Nani, I am now helping them with anything they need for a while," he introduced. "Things such as looking after Lilo, cleaning the house for them a bit, or, like I'm doing right now, cooking." At this, Nani turned to him, wide-eyed and mouthing, "You can cook?"

"I can try," Maru mouthed back, sweatdropping a little.

Mr. Bubbles raised an eyebrow. "Really," he said. "So, then, if you're here, who's watching the food?" he asked.

Maru squeaked and was about to dash off before catching Mr. Bubbles' "I knew it" disapproving stare. He couldn't help but droop in loss at it.

"Sorry to say, but you really don't look like someone I can trust after he's just met a family yesterday and is suddenly in their house before they wake up," Mr. Bubble said, crossing his arms and eyeing Maru.

Maru, a bit flustered, pointed at Stitch. "Well, HE'S just met these guys yesterday!" he defended himself. "Why give only ME the evil eye?"

"Because," he said slowly, "he's a dog. Dogs generally aren't large-scale theives...or worse," he added, raising a nostril again.

Maru's face turned beet red, but he stopped himself before continuing, leaving his mouth open and a finger up and pointing for a second before he let them return to normal.

Mr. Bubbles sighed and addressed Nani again...after cracking his shoulders and neck. With a perfect, nearly comical, flat, half-eyed expression, he informed, "Thus far have you been adrift in the sheltered harbor of my patience. But I cannot ignore you being jobless," he added, face normal again, pointing at Nani. "Do I make myself clear?"

"Perfectly," Nani said weakly.

Mr. Bubbles looked down and motioned with his hand to Stitch, who was standing behind Lilo and sneering up at the suited man. "And next time I see this dog, I expect it to be a model citizen. Capice?"

Lilo looked a bit confused as she raised her eyebrow and made an uncertain, "Uuuh...yes...?" up at him.

Mr. Bubbled looked over at Maru. "As for you," he said, "I had better see some truth to what you're saying about wanting to help this family. Otherwise, I might just have to report you to the police. I want to see you leaving a positive effect here."

Maru nodded. "Understood," he said calmly.

Mr. Bubbles then looked at each person in turn as he summarized his tasks and pointed with his folded sunglasses. "New job," he said to Nani. Looking down at Stitch, he said, "Model citizen." Finally looking back up at Maru, he said, "Positive effect." He stood straight, put his sunglasses back on and, after a POING! while his right lens popped out of the rims, bade them a short, "Good day," before turning and walking back to his all-black, fancy-looking car.

Nani, Lilo, and Maru looked uneasilly at each other. Maru then remembered he had food on the stove. "Aw--!" He dashed back to check and bounced right back out the door frame, causing the girls and Stitch to turn and raise questioning eyebrows. "Oof!" Maru went as he did so, and had to shake his head a bit on the floor before looking at what made him bounce off. He raised his violet eyebrows so high, they disappeared into his grand bangs. "Elliott?!" he asked in disbelief.

Elliott turned around and put his paws to his mouth in the "OMG! I'm sorry!" fashion, blushing.

"Elliott?" repeated Nani as she helped Maru up. He ignored her question, though, and merely muttered his thanks.

Maru took off past his large friend into the kitchen to find, to his surprise, the food was gone...onto platters sitting on the table. The bacon was cut up in little bits and sprinkled over some salad while some eggs were hard-boiled and cut artistically, each having a toothpick with a little burst crown made out of colored celophane, some were scrambled and sprinkled with what looked like paprika. The toast was sitting on another platter, with cream cheese, jam, and butter sitting out, ready for use. He blinked in amazement at the impressive spread. "What on--" he muttered before catching sight of Figment, who was whistling and slapping his paws across each other in the "finished with work" gesture, walking towards him from behind a chair. He blanched. "FIG...aro?" he asked, stopping himself.

Figment looked offended as he put his paws on his hips. "Excuse me?" he asked.

Maru leaned down and whispered, "'Figment' isn't a normal human name, remember?"

"Oh, yeaaaah," Figment remembered.

"Maru? Who the...wait, aren't these the same guys from yesterday?" Maru stood and turned to find Nani looking at Maru's companions and paled. She had HER hands on HER hips, looking displeased.

Maru sweatdropped, but sighed. "Yeah, they are," he said. "They're my companions. The large one's Elliott and the kid here's Figaro." He held his hand out to each as he introduced them.

Nani raised her eyebrow at them. "Really. So, what's with the...holy..." She saw the food, eyebrows raised. "Did YOU do this, Maru?" she asked in amazement as she squeezed past Elliot. (Lilo and Stitch, who gave glares to the new people, had an easier time as they followed her.)

Maru held his hands out in front of him in an "I dunno!" way, looking a bit flustered. "I had bacon on and was going to do some scrambled eggs, but...I dunno who did it all up so fancy..."

Figment cleared his throat, and the humans (well, humans and pokémon) turned their heads to him. He bowed (performance bow, not like Maru's Japanese bows). "Bon appetite," he bade, sounding like a waiter or butler or something and holding an arm up to indicate the food on the table.

Maru gaped at him, but sent, ''Explain later, got it?'' instead of saying anything. He regained composure and cleared his throat. "Well, I guess we should all have some breakfast before we go out today...that is, well, if I'm right in assuming job-hunting is on the agenda for today?" he asked Nani.

Nani sighed. "Yeah, it's got to be," she said. "But I dunno if I can..."

Maru patted her arm. "You'll get a job, don't worry," he said. "Just...give it your best shot." 'I was never good at encouraging words...'

Nani gave a weak smile. "Thanks," she said. She sat down and looked at the food. "Wow. Figaro, you're pretty good," she complimented. "I've never had eggs this fancy for breakfast before in my life."

Figment bowed and said, in a somewhat high-pitched voice in a needless effort to sound young, "It was my pleasure."

Everyone sat down to eat--Elliott on the floor since there weren't enough chairs, and they didn't look like they'd support him long, anyway--in relative silence. Then, Maru's curiousity got the better of him and he asked, "Nani?"

"Hmm?" Nani went, chewing some food.

"Who exactly was that?" he asked, tilting his head a little. "I mean, why's Mr. Bubbles so important?"

"Oh," Nani said, having swallowed her food, and she looked down a bit. "He's the social worker."

'Social worker?' "Uh-oh," Maru said before he could stop himself. He blushed and clapped his mouth shut.

Nani chuckled. "Oh, don't worry," she said. "He's a bit scary, but I'm sure we'll all be alright."

Maru nodded, thinking, 'Well, if it's alright that we've got a little monster with us who is meant for destruction and finds it difficult to resist his programming...'

After a bit, Nani pointed her fork at Maru, another eyebrow raise aimed at him. "As I was saying, is this really make-up on him still?" she asked, motioning to Elliott's green scales.

Maru gulped, fortunately having food in his mouth before he did so so that it didn't look too obvious. "Ummmm..." he began.

"What's it matter, Nani?" asked Lilo. "He's here to help out, too, right?" she asked Maru. Nod. She smiled back at her sister. "Sure, they're all spies or something, but if they want to help, why don't we just let go ahead and help us and worry about that stuff later? Besides, you're ruining the sanctity of a cool breakfast!" she added, the real reason for her saving Maru coming out. Everyone (except Stitch, who was grumpilly sitting on the floor, looking at his disgusting dog food in a dish) chuckled at that.

"Alright, I'll stop asking questions," Nani said, smiling a bit. "But I'm still a bit wary, Mr. Psycho," she said to Maru, pointing her fork at him.

Maru anger-veined. "It's 'psychic,'" he corrected. "I'm not a psycho."

"That's not what _she_ said," Figment joked, and he got a hard elbowing for saying that in front of a child from everyone around him (barring Stitch, who laughed).

Later on, after Lilo and Nani were ready to go, the party set off down the road.


	20. 12: Devil in Disguise

Warning: This part contains a (spoiler-free) crossover with my other big fanfic (and one of my most popular, I think), my EBA/Ouendan fic. It also contains lots of crap in double parentheses that explains to folks who haven't read that WTF I'm doing.

Maru: But it's pointless to ask him that exact question, since he barely knows in the first place.

Hey! I spent hours--a number above 1, not a decimal; nice try, tho, 'Two--today working out what happens here! Don't bash me!

Maru: *Sighs* Well, okay, but I was talking about what the deal is most of the time.

That'd be true, then. Anyway, just a warning for everyone. *clears throat*

- - -

"Where to first?" Maru asked Nani. Everyone was walking to town again, and Lilo was carting a wagon full of things that related to Elvis Presley, who appeared to be her idol or something.

"I'm going to try and get a shop at a shop," she answered. "I dunno how you guys could help."

"Maybe by taking care of those things," suggested Figment, pointing ahead of them.

Everyone followed his pointing claw and saw a whole crowd of Heartless that had just appeared on the road. Nani reared back in fright. "WHAT THE--?!"

"Believe me now?" Maru asked, drawing the Keyblade. "Figm--aro! Elliott! Be careful!"

Nani blinked at the appearance of the Keyblade. "Uuuuuh...that's not a prop, is it?" she asked.

Maru shook his head. "No; I'm sorry I made up that really bad lie, but it's actually the weapon I use to fight the Heartless," he told her quickly, then started towards the Heartless. He stopped when he saw a blue ball zing out and attack them viciously. "Sti-itch!" he groaned, reaching out for him. "Stop! Model citizens don't fight!!"

"But, uh...they DO defend people, right?" Elliott reasoned.

Nani turned to him. "Huh? You say something?" she asked. All she had heard was mumbling, which is actually what Elliott's primary form of communication sounds a bit like.

"Yeah, you're right!" Lilo said, a grin spreading across her face. She jumped up and down, pumping her fist rootingly. "Get 'em, boy! Get 'em!"

Maru blinked and looked back at Lilo. "You could understand Elliott?" he asked her.

Lilo nodded. "Yeah, what, you couldn't?" she replied.

Maru shook his head. "I can, but...Oh, later!" he growled before going into battle himself. Figment and Elliott gladly followed into the fray.

However, the dragons found that fighting while having restricted movement like they had, due to the disguises pressing their tails and wings to their bodies, was not very easy. Elliott suffered the most, since his tail was an excellent and was now quite an often-used weapon thanks to the experience fighting he's had up until then allowing him to think about how best to fight better. He was restricted to body slams again. Figment was allowed to use magic cards, using the logic that since Maru had revealed that he was psychic, he could use his special powers, too, but he was unable to move as fast thanks to the absence of his wings, which he used to give him a boost in dodging attacks.

Finally, the road was clear. Nani raised an eyebrow at the scene as the four fighters returned. "Okay," she said, "if those things are going to be coming back a lot while we're job-hunting, I think I can kiss my hopes of getting hired good-bye..." She looked down at Stitch as he came back to Lilo, looking satisfied. "Especially with the way YOU fight," she added. Stitch froze mid-step and made a "Huh?" sound as he turned to look up at Nani. Nani was crossing her arms and looking a bit stressed down at him. "Yeah, you," she said. "You fight like a little monster, you know that?"

Stitch growled, but Lilo defended him by saying, "Well, it's not like he can help it--he's an animal!" which made him smile and nod his head matter-of-factly.

Nani rolled her eyes. "Well, regardless, Stitch...I know Lilo said that Elliott suggested defending people was part of being a model citizen, I don't think fighting is really going to look good to Mr. Bubbles," she pointed out warningly. "Sorry, but if in case the...Heartless, right?" she checked with Maru, who nodded. "In case the Heartless DO come back, let Maru, Figaro, and Elliott handle it. They look like they know what they're doing, and though they're not the most orthadox people..." She looked at the three of them, Maru looking minorly offended at the comment. "...they're more orthadox than you are, Stitch. So just focus on becoming a model citizen so we're not doomed next time we see Mr. Bubbles, alright?" she asked, leaning down close to Stitch.

Stitch, for the first time anyone had ever witnessed, didn't try and growl, or sneer, or anything negative. Instead, he held his ears limply flat and bore an expression of shock. He slowly nodded, though.

"Okay," Nani said, standing straight again. "Come on, let's get down to Mrs. Hasegawa's shop," she said, waving her arm beckoningly while holding a piece of paper in her other hand. She started walking along. Everyone started moving after her, but Stitch remained where he was.

Maru was starting to walk, too, but he didn't hear Stitch's four-footed steps and turned around to look. He saw him standing there, and he sensed panic. 'Uh-oh,' he thought as he walked quickly back over to him. "Stitch?" he asked quietly as he approached. Stitch turned slowly around to look at the Keyblader. He crouched down to him and looked with concern into his eyes. "What's wrong? Aren't you going to come?" he asked softly.

Stitch groped the air and pointed to the area around, grunting, before pointing to him, his eyes, and then at a spot in the area he had indicated before. He then growled at the spot and jumped a little towards it, past Maru, slashing, then turning and looking up at Maru helplessly.

Maru blinked at him, trying to figure out the charade. "Is it about the Heartless?" he asked. A nod. "We can handle them, don't worry...wait..." He thought a bit. "You pointed to yourself...your eyes...When you see the Heartless, you get angry?" he tried. Stitch nodded his head vigorously, but when asked why, he looked totally at a loss as he shrugged. Maru furrowed his brow. "So you feel hatred towards the Heartless for a reason you don't know," he summarized. He then widened his eyes as he recalled the times he's fought alongside Stitch. "Wait...you went and just attacked, didn't you? Can you...Can you help it?" he asked, wondering if that was it.

Stitch slowly shook his head.

"That's what you're afraid of," Maru muttered, amazed. "You...You're actually concerned with what Mr. Bubbles wants you to do?"

Stitch nodded. He looked pleadingly at Maru.

Maru raised his eyebrows. "Wow...And here I thought all you cared about was getting just what YOU want," he mumbled. He stood up. "C'mon, let's catch up before they wonder where we are," he said, motioning for Stitch to follow as he began to walk along. Stitch followed after him. Maru smiled down at him. "Believe me, I think I kinda know how you feel," he told him. "I...don't have anyone, either."

Stitch, who was walking along and worrying a little, snapped his head up to Maru when he said this, surprised.

Maru nodded. "Yeah," he said, half-smiling. "I'm alone, too. There aren't any others like me...at least, that I know of for sure," he added, trying to cover up himself a little while still telling the truth. He looked away as he spoke a bit. "We share a bond, sorta," he said quietly. "That's another reason I want to help you and the girls."

Stitch blinked in amazement. Someone...Someone CARES about him?

Maru chuckled a bit. "Try not to think about it too much, alright?" he advised. "You've already got a lot to think about."

"MARUUU!!" came a cry from up ahead. Maru whipped his head up and cursed.

"More Heartless!!" Maru growled, breaking into a run and drawing the Keyblade. "Stay with Lilo!" he told Stitch. However, when he got midway into his third Heartless, he noticed the blue beast was fighting again. He mrfed, flailing a bit, before stamping down and holding a fist, anger-veining, and shouting, "STITCH, WHAT ARE YOU DOING?! I THOUGHT YOU WEREN'T GOING TO FIGHT!!"

Stitch blinked, going, "HUH?!" and fell to the ground from an aerial attack. He looked at his claws, and the whole world seemed to shake. His emotions were a mixed-up whirlwind in his mind while Heartless and Maru, Figment, and Elliot fought around him. Lilo...Mr. Bubbles...Nani...Jamba...Maru...Heartless...626/Stitch...All of them swirled about as he felt his desires clashing, creating storms of confusion and making him quiver from the force of it. He growled, holding his head as it built up, trying to clear his thoughts. He couldn't take it much longer...Focus! Model citizen! Fight fighting the Heartless! But...HOW?! Can he even do it!? AAAARRGH!!

With a cry that was almost completely lost in the noise of Maru and his teammates fighting, Stitch finally snapped and called out,

**"HHEEAAAAAAAALLLLP!!"**

Maru heard this and gritted his teeth. 'Stitch...I'm here to help you. That's why I'm here...' He clenched a fist, though. 'But...HOW can I help him?!' He shook his head and focused on fighting the Heartless again.

He wasn't the only one who heard the cry for help, though. And neither was Stitch the only one who had cried for help. Secretly, Maru's own stress levels were topping out, since Nani's stress vibes and the stress caused by his own values and the responsibilities he had in this world (mainly keeping up the lies like a con artist) were combining to form one wound-tight kitty. What happened after that battle would never have occured if Stitch hadn't cried for help, however--Maru was too proud to cry for help so loud. A distressed scream, maybe, but never the audible word "help".

(Speaking of pride, Maru found it a little odd that Stitch had crumbled so hard. As well, when he thought back to it later that day, he remembered that he didn't feel completely alone when he was with Stitch. He had been too worried about Stitch at the time, however, to truly realize it.)

After the battle was done and everyone began to move on, Maru hung back and talked to Stitch, who was acting really poor, frowning as he moped behind the pack. "It'll be fine," he reassured the little blue thing. "You'll be able to hold back and take a bit of a break, trust me. Mind over matter." He gave a half smile, though, since he was a bit unsure, himself. 'I hope encouraging counts as a positive effect, since that looks like all I can do if there really are no Heartless around where we're going...' He didn't notice he was hanging his head a bit, too, and both were walking a bit slow, the rest getting ahead again.

At this time, to the two's surprise (they actually jumped a little), some music started up, loud in their ears. Eleven loud strums on an old electric(?) guitar alerted them, and they turned around and saw three young men in suits, lined up in a row. The center one was holding open a badge out to the two while the other two stood by either side. With a smirk, he said confidently,

"The Elite Beat Agents are at your service!!"

**-:-MISSION: Trouble in Paradise! Fight and Fight Fighting!! -:-**

(*Raise your hand* in a comment if you rolled your eyes, facepalmed, or said/did something to the effect of the phrase, "Oh, God..." after you read that! X3)

Maru dropped his jaw. "Agent Lock?!" he asked incredulously. "What...Why...?"

Lock grin-smirked as he put his badge away. "Don't worry, Maru. You and Stitch get back to your party so we can start it!" he said before running into position with the others.

Stitch and Maru blinked at each other before running over back to the group. They had just gotten to Mrs. Hasegawa's shop. Nani stopped to talk to the short, old woman who looked like her eyes would be taken off as well if she took off her Coke-bottle glasses. "Mrs. Hasegawa?" she started. The old woman watering her garden didn't hear. Nani tried her other ear as she leaned around her and said, again, "Mrs. Hasegawa? I'm here for the job you posted!"

Mrs. Hasegawa didn't appear to hear her properly, though.

Meanwhile, Lilo and Stitch went to a side and stopped. "Elvis Presley was a model citizen. I've compiled a list of astraights for you to practice," Lilo began, speaking as if she was reading a report for school and pointing to a picture of Elvis. "Number one..." She reached into the wagon and pulled out a grass skirt and held it up to her middle and wiggled about. "...is dancing!"

Stitch tilted his head in curiousity as his instruction began. All he had to do was listen to Lilo and learn. Not too hard, right?

Maru cringed when he found out this was wrong. He and the others were standing around, waiting for an opportunity to help out while Nani talked about her job with Mrs. Hasegawa and Lilo taught Stitch how to become a model citizen. Elliott had to be extra careful since there wasn't much space and there were many fruits and potted plants around them. Maru had decided to supervise Lilo and Stitch to make sure they didn't get in trouble, leaning against a wall. He had thought the idea stated in the paragraph above when the first sentence of this one occured, since the hairs on the back of his neck stood up again. 'Oh, crud...'

As he had feared, Stitch, who had just put on a grass skirt, stopped and was looking around. Lilo put her hands on her hips. "Hey! Stitch, pay attention!" she scolded, and Stitch snapped back to her, almost sweatdropping a little as he looked sorry. He then found himself in a bind: Heartless were coming, but he wasn't allowed to fight!

The Heartless appeared, and Nani fought yelping when they appeared near her. Mrs. Hasegawa didn't seem to notice them, though. Summoning the Keyblade, Maru told Nani, "Keep going, we'll handle this!!" and stepped into action while eyeing a nervous, fist-clenching Stitch behind him. "Please, Stitch, don't include yourself in this!" he whispered to him.

Just then, the Agents hopped out of nowhere, it seemed, onto the sidelines of the little niche Lilo and Stitch occupied and started their wave. Stitch and Maru felt it, and while the former began to joyfully wave his arms (while Lilo said, "Uuuhhh, you're getting ahead of me, Stitch," while raising an eyebrow) and sway with the Agents, Maru just paused, looked at the Agents, then looked up and facepalmed. 'Are you kidding me...?' he wondered, but he couldn't help flicking his Keyblade to the beat while he did. Stitch happily let out a cry of renewed vigor.

"WHOOOOOOOAH!!"

"""ARE YOU READY?""" the Agents asked, stopping their sway and pointing at their targets--mainly Stitch, but Maru was just as important--while holding their mics to their mouthes with the other hand and tapping their feet to the beat. Then, pointing right, up, left, and split-kick jumping, they counted down, """3! 2! 1! GO!!"""

- You look like an angel (look like an angel)

- Walk like an angel (walk like an angel)

- Talk like an angel

- But I got wise

- You're the devil in disguise

- Oh, yes, you are

- Devil in disguise

- Mmm-mm-mm...

_((In case you haven't read my EBA fanfiction (Insert Game Title Here: Gotta Cheer 'em All!, which you might want to at some point since there's a bit of a major event correllating to THIS story in THAT one), you might find the style of writing now and ahead to be a bit unfamiliar. Conversely, if you HAVE read it, you'll find it a bit familiar. Regardless, behold the Long Paragraph Describing What Goes On During the Song Section of DOOMIES below, which I shall mercifully break down for you guys this time! Oh, and if you know what's going on, ignore all these double-parens things!))_

Appropriately, Elvis Presley played. Surprisingly, though, it was the song "Devil in Disguise", which made Maru worry that it would end up DIScouraging Stitch. However, Stitch was doing midway between bad and great--not fine, but still between the two extremes. He looked a little antsy as Lilo tried to show him how to dance, looking around at the Heartless that Maru was seen fighting (with flashes of Figment and Elliott) in the background with mild, standard vigor, then snapping back to Lilo and trying to copy her movements. _((Normal reaction: Occurs when a finished set contains a 100. (There are four point values rewarded depending on how close to the rhythm you hit the marker (DDR arrow of EBA/Ouendan). They are, in order of farthest to closest on-rhythm: 0 (Miss), 50, 100, 300.)))_

The Agents danced and sang fine for a bit, but then, one of the Heartless sprang up right in front of them, surprising them and causing them to miss a move. When this happened, the energy that was filling Maru and Stitch drooped a bit. Lilo had to grab hold of Stitch's tail and hang on with all her tiny might while he struggled to fight the Heartless, and Maru was having a bit of trouble fighting the Heartless, panting and standing in one spot with Figment and Elliott while they came at them. _((Bad reaction: Occurs when a finished set contains a 50 or if a miss occurs. What also might occur: The player, seeing what happens, then curses or otherwise shouts loudly, whacks him-/herself in the head, or grumbles, pauses, and restarts the song for what might be the umpteenth time.))_

However, after a quick """HEY!""" to dispell the Heartless at the end of the next part in the song section, the Agents got back on the ball and sang and danced Maru and Stitch full to bursting with energy. Maru was, comically, white-triangle-eyed in ferver as he zipped left and right, fighting and defeating Heartless like there was no tomorrow, with Figment and Elliott sitting there and giving him a look that said he was taking all the fun, and Stitch was dancing right along with Lilo, ignoring the battle taking place around and behind him altogether. _((Good reaction: Occurs when a finished set contains nothing but 300's in it. This and the normal reaction are all you see in a fabled ALL300 run.))_

_((Now, I'll go into what happens when the song section is over. Songs in EBA/Ouendan aren't done all at once--that wouldn't give the story enough time to progress, and the player doesn't want to focus that hard on a somewhat-small touch screen. What occurs in the story depends on if a meter measuring how good you're doing, located on the bottom screen, is in the red or not when the section ends. You're then given a circle or an X on the screen if you came out good or bad, respectively, for that section. Observe below.))_

Nani, trusting in what Maru instructed, was continuing to try and get Mrs. Hasegawa to understand that she's here for the job. While she worked with her, Stitch and Lilo were dancing up a storm. They spun together out into the open, stopping with Stitch holding Lilo, looking like a pair of ballroom dancers. He then let go, jumped to be beside Lilo, and the two of them looked with narrow, mysterious eyes at an invisible audience (the camera, basically) and lowered their bodies as if a jack was ratcheting them down, jerking three times until stopping. Then, something suddenly happened to Stitch: He suddenly spazzed out and began spinning off like a top while Lilo did...uh, that move where you plug your nose and squirm down while holding up a finger, like you're drowning. (Sorry, I don't know dance moves at all.) Nani was talking with Mrs. Hasegawa still when, to both women's surprise, Stitch wound up winding around and winding up Mrs. Hasegawa before winding up with her head in a watermelon and his blinking head, surrounded by the grass skirt Lilo had given him to wear, stuck out the top.

"Why is everything so dark?" asked Mrs. Hasegawa from within the melon while Nani put her hands to her mouth.

Maru, who had finished the last Heartless off, looked at the scene and frowned, putting a hand to his forehead. "Oh, come on...Well," he muttered, shrugging, "at least I was able to occupy the Heartless enough for them to ignore him and he was able to ignore the Heartless enough for him to learn how to dance..." 'I dunno if Lilo knows what a real model citizen is, though--I don't think a guy who smoked would be considered a model citizen in America, at least...'

(Reagardless, however,)

**--(O)--**

_((That's what I do when a section has been cleared successfully and has earned a circle.))_

After lifting Stitch from the melon and freeing Mrs. Hasegawa from it, as well, it was decided that Nani probably won't be getting the job, so they moved on to their next destination. However, on the way there, they encountered, in the middle of the streets in the center of town--the same streets that Maru had gone along before Stitch had motered off in the stolen trike(the whereabouts of which are still unkown)--Heartless! Maru, Figment, and Elliott went and fought them off, but Stitch was told to remain where he was. He had a bit of trouble doing so, since he didn't see anyone in a black suit (apart from the Agents, though he didn't see them, either) in the fortunately clear area to criticize his actions. He survived, though, and the group eventually went onwards towards their destination.

_((This stuff before the lyrics below is stuff that happens during the chapter, not during the stage. In other words, if it were an EBA/Ouendan game, you wouldn't see anything like what was said above. That's not to say that it wouldn't happen during the game were this a real KH game, in this case! :3))_

(-) You fooled me with your kisses

(-) You cheated and you schemed

(-) Heaven knows how you lied to me

(-) You're not the way you seem

_((Those are lyrics that are sung while the above scene is played out and the below scene is given. The latter is what's happening before the next section, setting the stage for the next difficulty the target(s) must overcome.))_

That destination was an outdoor cafe, and Nani appeared to know the owner. As they spoke, Lilo and Stitch took a place at a table. "Let's move on to step two," Lilo said, unfazed by what happened back at Mrs. Hasegawa's shop. She held a ukelele. "Elvis played guitar."

'Uhm...most 'model citizens' don't play instruments, at least as far as people like Mr. Bubbles are concerned,' Maru thought critically. Again, he took to supervision of Stitch, especially after what happened last time. He sat at the table they were at and watched with crossed arms. (Figment and Elliott sat nearby Nani, ready for anything.) 'I hope there aren't any Heartless around here--so many people...'

Stitch was sitting across from Maru and was turned to face Lilo, who gave him the tiny guitar. "You put your fingers here," Lilo instructed, taking his paw in her hand and showing him by placing his fingers on the strings. "Then you run your hand across the strings, like this," she said, and, after taking Stitch's free hand, made him strum up on the strings. She let go of him and stood back. "Now you try," she said, smiling.

Stitch looked at it, for some reason seeming a bit confused despite the fact he obviously understood the instructions.

Lilo frowned a bit. "Scared?" she asked. She reached into the wagon. "Okay, here...this might help..." She pulled out, to Maru's surprise, a full-size accoustic guitar.

"Why'd you bring that along?" Maru asked, looking at how the body of the instrument was as big as she was. "You're too small to play that properly--" He barely finished the sentence when Lilo shoved it onto him.

"That's why you're going to play and show Stitch that there's nothing to be afraid of! I brought it because I had a feeling I might need to initiate plan B, here," she explained, smiling. She crossed her arms at Maru's reluctant look. "You said you wanted to help, right?" she asked, eyeing him.

Maru gulped, nodding. "Y-Yeah," he said. 'But I don't know how to play guitar! I'm used to having three big, bulbous digits that would make simple chording a breeze but everything else a nightmare!' he thought, looking at his fingers. He lowered his hand to find Stitch was looking up at him. They both nodded nervously.

(The Agents came back and did their wave again. Though Lilo looked strangely at Stitch doing it again at first, she couldn't resist joining in a little into the waving. Maru again tried to resist it, but he gave up and, looking down as if he had just sighed and blushing, he just sat and waved his hand, only the hand, along with the swaying. He remained silent, though, as Lilo and Stitch went, "WOOOOAAAH!!" with energy. 'Alright, NOW might be a good time for some help, but ONLY for this sort of thing,' he grumbled in his head as the wave went.)

_((Now, I normally don't do that, describe who joins in on the waving, since I'm lazy. I think I should, though--it's just that it's sort of akward in the story to do so. The Ouendan's """OSU!!""" is an exception due to the fact that they say something. The Agents are silent as they wave their targets (and whatever other supporting character iNiS wants to join in just for fun) and fill them with energy.))_

- You look like an angel (look like an angel)

- Walk like an angel (walk like an angel)

- Talk like an angel

- But I got wise

At first, Maru was, secretly, filled with enough energy that he was actually playing a bit well, using his knowledge of how guitars work and his knowledge of the way the 12 notes and enharmonics work to figure out how to do chords. (He knew from a little bit of experience, listening to music back home, that chords sound best when the notes are a third away from each other--for example, C-E-G. (Something that tripped me up a bit when starting Music Theory last year was that two written notes playing the same actual note had an interval of 1; that's why that chord stuff might have looked confusing to you.)) He was strumming individual notes in a random tune, as well, and he was actually finding this a bit fun, as evident by a smiling face. ('Say, maybe I should take this up when I get home!' he thought.) Stitch, seeing him having fun and being unafraid, went to plucking strings along with Maru. Lilo smiled at the two as they played. Then, the energy faded a little, or maybe Maru lost it after hitting a sour note or two. He then was reduced to strumming individual notes, one at a time, wearing a face of sheer concentration as he tried to fake his way through this. Stitch gave him a slightly unsure look as he plucked at a slower rate. Lilo gave the two a patient, waiting look. ((You'd think this would come first, right? Well, the last section ended on a Good reaction--thus, this one began on a good reaction. That's how the game works.)) Then, Maru got a little frustrated and was seen blowing the fingertips on his left hand and shaking it a little in pain from the strings. (Dunno if accoustic strings hurt, but electric ones sure as hell do at first. Not saying I play guitar a lot--in fact, I have one, but I never am able to get serious playing it...I'm sure if I got lessons...) Stitch was now not playing at all, instead looking with a more-unsure look on his face, obviously thinking, 'And she wants me to play this?' Lilo was looking disapprovingly at Maru, pointing at him and saying, "Quit being such a baby!" Thankfully, something must have clicked, since not only did this all last very breifly, things went right back to the way it was before. Maru must have collected his thoughts for a moment before he got back on the saddle. Just before the section of the song ended, though, he hit another wrong note and was back to the middle state again.

Nani was talking with the person who owned the diner when, suddenly, Stitch began to play along with a solo that actually appeared later in the song the Agents were doing, but one that came in at a similar spot (at the start of a chorus). He sat at first, playing it, but he stood up when he reached a pause in the solo and, smiling, played away. To Maru's surprise, the ukelele sounded amplified, like the real guitar in the song. He wasn't one to complain, however, since he, too, was joyfully playing along with the song, doing the chords with the same amplification to the sound of the real chord-playing guitar in the song while Stitch did what might have been one of the earliest true guitar solos. (I really don't know, but I'd be surprised if it wasn't.) Unfortunately, though the guitarists couldn't see it, the sound of their amplified playing broke all the glass in the area with a spike of feedback noise, even the coffee pot the owner of the diner was holding (despite the fact that, while it WAS during a high note, it couldn't possibly have been high enough to break glass). Lilo looked at the damage around her and gave a half-happy look to the guitarists, who, while finishing up, looked at each other, smiling. They looked quite pleased with their playing when the solo finished up (and the song picked up where it had been interrupted, starting the next verse). That is, well, before Maru noticed all the broken glass and put a hand to his mouth. "Oooooh...Don't tell me we did that," he muttered.

"Yup," Lilo told them, face in palm.

Maru blinked in confusion. "But...Wait, how...That wasn't THAT high...was it...?" he muttered while he looked down and held his chin in thought.

(In the background, a familiar black man in a black suit lowered his newspaper and looked at Stitch behind dark glasses.)

**--(O)--**

After Stitch inadvertently ruined another job hunting, the group moved on to their next destination. Yet again, however, Heartless appeared on the road there. Maru, Figment, and Elliott fought them off, Stitch joining in once Lilo, after looking around to see if the coast was clear (which, again, it was, suprisingly), gave him permission. The party, once that was finished, went and continued onwards.

(-)(Extended instrumental)

_((Sure, I know that there isn't that long of one here in the real song, but the game extends things a lot, though definitely not as often as they shorten things, and while I generally avoid doing both if possible, this song, since it's got such short spaces between parts, calls for extending. I also just put "(Instrumental)" if there's a normal instrumental here or if it's a particularly rhythmic one that would be fun to play in the game. Yes, folks--I write my EBA fic like it was my own personal fantasy EBA game. Why? It helps me stay calm while waiting for the announcement of the EBA2 that will, at this point, probably never happen. ;.; ))_

Now, the group ended up in a hotel lobby. Nani spoke to the guy at the front desk, not looking very sure as she did. The guy didn't seem to respond to her warmly.

Meanwhile, Lilo and Stitch, the latter of whom now held a flower and wore an red, open Hawaiian shirt, walked along towards a bench, upon which sat an old woman reading a newspaper. "Third, Elvis was a ladies' man," Lilo was saying.

Maru raised an eyebrow at this as he walked behind them, supervising again. He had decided he should supervise them pretty much the whole time if he could. 'This doesn't look like it's going anywhere good,' he thought nervously.

Lilo instructed Stitch to get up on the bench with her, but just then, Maru's "psychic-Keyblader sense" tingled again. Stitch didn't get on the bench and instead looked wildly around. "Stitch? What's wrong?" Lilo asked.

"Heartless," groaned Maru, putting his face in his palm. "Oh, not here...people who actually might NOTICE are here..." However, as was unavoidable, the black beasts appeared in the lobby, right near Stitch. Maru dived and grabbed both Lilo and Stitch, causing the latter's flower to get crushed. "We should get out of here," he told them, holding a twitching Stitch tight.

Lilo didn't care about that, though. "Heeey! You smushed Stitch's flower!" she whined, pointing at the mangled plant on the ground. "Now we need to pick another, thanks!"

Maru had a flourescent lightbulb at this. "I've got a better idea," he said, running to a place outside the hotel where a lot of flowers grew, ready to be picked. He skidded and set the two down. "Why not pick a whole bouquet? You girls like flowers, right?" he asked Lilo.

Lilo gasped, smiling. "Hey, that's a GREAT idea!" she said. "Come on, Stitch! Let's pick a bouquet!" She grabbed his wrist and tugged him along.

Stitch, unhappy with the prospect of having to go around and pick flowers, looked back desperately at Maru, who had summoned his Keyblade and was about to run off to fight. "This'll keep you out of the fight, just hold out here," Maru told him. "I'll handle the Heartless!" He dashed off.

(The Agents stepped in and started the wave again. Lilo and Stitch did it again happilly, and the wave was joined by Figment and Elliott, who actually stopped fighting for a second while they did it. Maru sweatdropped and blushed at it, but he let an arm wave a bit this time, body swaying just a smidgen as he did. He still did not bring his face up, though. Nor did he join in the "WWOOOOAAH!!".)

- You look like an angel (look like an angel)

- Walk like an angel (walk like an angel)

- Talk like an angel

- But I got wise

- You're the devil in disguise

- Oh, yes, you are

- Devil in disguise

- Mmm-mm-mm...

- I thought that I was in heaven

- But I was sure surprised

- Heaven help me, I didn't see

- The devil in your eyes

First, Stitch was having trouble picking flowers. He was picking them from the patch slowly, too busy glancing back to the door of the hotel, where Maru and the others were seen fighting the Heartless with standard energy. (To everyone's astonishment, Nani, the desk clerk, and the woman reading the newspaper didn't notice them, they were so busy doing what they were doing.) Lilo often had to pull him along as she picked some flowers as well. Then, Stitch, again, couldn't help himself and was fighting to get back inside, Lilo tugging on him while his arms cartoonishly stretched a little as he dug his claws into the door, a ticked-off look on his face. Maru and the others were getting tired, as well, cornered and barely fighting them off. Then, after whipping his head around in a strong shaking, Stitch released the door and sprang back to picking flowers, this time calmly doing so, never looking back at the door, with Lilo, who smiled as she had fun picking the bouquet. Back in the lobby, the Heartless were getting their asses whupped by Maru, who was going full-tilt against them, Figment and Elliott staying in the spot they had been cornered in while they watched with wonder at the Keyblader. A split second before the section ended, though, he felt a sudden urge to go inside again.

After a few moments, Lilo said, "Okay, that's good," and held up a big bouquet of flowers. She walked along with Stitch in hand back through the doors. There were only one or two Heartless left, and Maru was dealing with them handilly. Lilo looked up and pointed. "Look, Stitch! Maru can handle those guys, see?" she asked.

Stitch looked up and nodded, gulping as he resisted the urge to fight them. He then followed Lilo's instructions and climbed back up on the bench, holding the bouquet.

"There!" Maru said, dropping to the ground after dealing a finishing aerial blow to the final Heartless, dismissing his Keyblade as he landed. He finished fighting just before Stitch was told to hold the old woman's hand. When the blue thing, with a calm poker face on, did as he was told, the old woman, wearing glasses that hid her eyes, looked up sharply from her paper with a surprised look on her face. Hearing this, Maru turned around. "Huh?"

"Now kiss her!" Lilo whispered in Stitch's ear.

Maru got the blue-lines-on-face look. "Oh, no...!" Nani looked as this was about to happen as well and got the same face as Maru, minus the anime expressioning.

_*smooch*_

The woman's scream was heard while Nani ran out the door, carrying Lilo and tugging her wagon, who said to Stitch, who was running after and holding out to her to try and catch the train, "Don't worry!" Stitch looked back nervously. "I'm sure Elvis had his bad days, too!"

Maru, who was piggybacking Figment and running alongside Elliott, sighed, looking skywards in impatience, and shook his head while still looking up. "I don't know if this is all that better than if he'd've scared her by acting like he had rabies," he commented while he was shaking his head.

**--(O)--**

(-) (chorus repeated, using the first time's second part)

The group, afraid to go back to that one for fear of the cops getting called on them due to Stitch's actions, ran to their final stop: The beach. Nani went over to the tanned blonde lifeguard and asked more than said, "I'm all about saving people."

The lifeguard thought for a second before saying, "Actually, I think we have an opening," to Nani, whose face brightened.

Maru smiled as he watched this. 'Things look like they're finally looking up, I guess,' he thought, turning to Lilo and Stitch and losing the smile a bit as he saw what Lilo had put Stitch into. "Oh, heavens, you didn't..." he muttered, dumbstruck.

Black pompadour wig. White, sequin-covered, flared, Texas split-flapped (well, those things that are basically strips of flat leather sticking on the sleeves, dunno what they're called) suit. Black belt. Gold (probably fake gold) necklace. Ukelele guitar. 'Lilo just made her 'dog' into an Elvis impersonator!!' Maru thought, finally letting himself face-fall.

"Alright," Lilo said as the two walked out of the grass and palm trees where they had been suiting up and onto the edge of the sand. Before them stood a gaggle of tourists and other beachgoers, unaware of what lay in store for them. "This is where we put it all together." She smiled and motioned Stitch to go for it.

Maru got up and looked with an expression on his face that reflected his feelings of this being a bit unfair. "Lilo? Are you sure this is gonna work?" he asked shakilly, walking over to her.

Lilo looked up and nodded. "You betcha!" she said. She walked over to an amp she had with her that was currently unplugged, holding an extention cord. She waved over her shoulder to Maru. "C'mon, aren't you gonna cheer him on?" she asked.

Maru smiled shakilly. "Er...yeah..." 'Well, hey, maybe he can pull it off...'

Stitch got into the middle of the beach and turned to look at Lilo, holding his ukelele and looking more than a bit nervous.

"IT'S ALL YOU! KNOCK 'EM DEAD!!" Lilo shouted before carefully plugging the amp in. Maru stood beside the amp, sweatdropping. 'For his sake, I hope he can pull it off,' he thought.

Stepping over to the sand, the Agents looked at each other, smiling nervously. "Well, erm...I think we're doing fine," said Lock. "We DID make it this far...so let's finish out!"

(They started their wave again. Nobody joined this time, but Maru finally let both arms up in the air and swayed his body a little more. He STILL didn't look up, though, and was actually blushing more than ever, it appeared. He didn't make a sound during the "WOOOAAHH!" again, either.)

_((What follows is the final section. It has no grade, but may be (or may not be) different from the other sections, anyway, in terms of what happens. This makes things a pain for me, but I do it anyway because I'm a stubborn idiot.))_

- You're the devil in disguise

- Oh yes you are

- Devil in disguise...

- (The guitar solo)

At first, Stitch was nervous and wasn't playing at all, and thus nobody noticed him. Maru was a bit reluctant in cheering him on, holding a fist up and opening his mouth before lowering it again, unsure of what to say. Lilo was cheering at the top of her lungs, encouraging him to not be nervous. Soon, though, Stitch began swaying a bit and playing, attracting a few people, and Maru began cheering him on with shy calls of "Go! C'mon!" Lilo cheered and said Stitch was doing good. Then, as he got more into the solo, Stitch was attracting quite a crowd, shining like a living disco ball as he played and danced with style, winking at girls, making them actually faint away as if seeing a superstar up close. Maru suddenly appeared filled with such energy, he was standing and waving paper folding fans of the Hawaiian flag that he found buried in Lilo's wagon like a cheer squad member while cheering enthusiastically. You could see he was forcing himself to do this from the way he blushed, however. Lilo was dancing on top of the amp.

_((And now, I give you the ending. This changes depending on if you got all circles, at least one X, or all X's, the endings being best to worst. Since the Agents scored all circles, here's the ending. Trust me, they're as confused as you'll be as to how this can be the best ending.))_

The tourists, being tourists, soon whipped out their cameras, complete with flash, and started going papparazzi on the poor guy. The flashing lights caused him to stop playing and gradually get worse and worse.

"Stooop!" called Lilo, who had gasped at what was going on when the solo ended. She was running towards him. Maru was running alongside her. "He's sensitive!!" she told them. "Quit crowding him!!"

Unfortunately, it was too late. Stitch went nuts, tearing off his clothing. Maru yelped and, in his panic, forgot he wanted to seem normal and pushed aside a path for him between the people. He ran to Stitch. "Stitch! Calm down!" he said, amazed they were still snapping pictures of him. Maru reached down for Stitch, but Stitch grabbed him and threw him right over his head to land on his own head on the sand near the water.

This, along with Stitch knocking someone's camera away and pushing them, triggered some mass panic and began a stampede of frightened tourists. Lilo gasped and tried to avoid them by ducking away.

"Lilo!!" Lilo looked up and saw Figment and Elliott running towards her. "What's going on?" Figment asked.

"Look out!!" Lilo cried, but it was too late. The crowd stampeded right over the two dragons in disguise.

The exodus felled the white lifeguard tower, which also made the lifeguard give a scowl at Nani before walking off in a huff. To make matters worse for Nani, when she looked up, she saw Mr. Bubbles standing at the edge of the beach. He looked at her, then shook his head while he turned and walked off. Nani looked totally hopeless.

(On a side note, a certain fat tourist with a bad tanktop sunburn was bumped by people in the stampede. Again, he ended up getting his mint chocolate chip ice cream knocked off its cone onto the sand.)

When Maru grunted and looked up, wet sand on his face and in his hair, he saw that everyone was running and screaming. "Huh? Oh...no..." Stitch was going absolutely crazy. Currently, he was clawing a super soaker. He soon made it burst, causing him to hiss and writhe like a demon or something else vile. Maru stood up slowly and looked around.

The beach was empty aside from the group. Stitch was standing on the sand, breathing heavy and looking around for more. Lilo was looking disappointedly at him. Nani was holding her face, hardly believing what was happening. Figment and Elliott were, oddly, lying faceup on the sand. Maru viewed the scene and let out a great sigh. "Oh, well..." He trudged over to Stitch, whom he crouched by, put a hand on his head, and said, "''Stitch,''", using both his voice and telepathy.

Stitch blinked and looked around, finally snapping out of it. He looked around and let his ears droop as he realized what had just happened.

Maru patted his head. "We tried," he said softly. He then stood up and began walking over to Figment and Elliott. "Guys, now's not the time to lay...down..." He stopped as he realized that they were lying in shreds of disguise. He glanced quickly over at Nani, who had caught sight of them and was covering her mouth. "...Why me?" he asked, then took a step out before realizing he didn't know who to run to.

"Oh, my..." Nani said. Then, she ran over, saying, "Elliott! Figaro!! Are you two alright?"

Maru breathed a sigh of relief that she hadn't noticed yet, then squawked when he realized she was about to. "Nani! Wait!" he called, running across the sand over. He got to Elliott just as she got to Figment. Maru's heart sank. 'So much for them going back to normal life,' he thought.

Nani sat up Figment, brushing him off. "Are you alright? You look like a great bruise! What happened?" she asked.

Figment's head was spinning, little tourists running circles around his head. "Yeeehaw..." he mumbled dizzilly, "lookitat dere stampeeede..."

Nani raised her eyebrows. "The tourists must have accidentially trampled you! Do you need a doctor?" she asked. She felt his back and froze. She slowly felt his wings. She looked and gasped at what she was touching. "What on...?!" she began, but then she stopped and slowly scowled up at Maru. "MaRUUU??" she addressed, like an angry mother.

Maru sweatdropped and grimaced before grinning uneasilly. "Uuuuh...yes, Nani?" he asked, chuckling nervously.

Nani grabbed Figment's wing between two fingers and moved it in and out while looking up at Maru with an "Explain." look on her face.

Figment giggled. "H-Hey, who's messing with my..." He stopped as he saw who after shaking his head clear and paled. "...We're so busted, aren't we?" he asked.

Nani looked at him with the same look. "Ooooooh, yeah, I'd say you are," she said icily, which made the little guy gulp.

Elliott came to himself, now. He shook his head, spraying sand everywhere, and he bopped it a bit to get some sand out of his ear. "So this is why you never start a stampede, no matter how fun it...looks..." he began to comment before realizing, too, they were very busted. He chuckled nervously and finger-wiggle-waved at Nani.

Nani growl-sighed and stood up, looking right at Maru. "Why didn't you tell me this sooner?!" she demanded to know. "Now you just let your teammates get run over by a stampede of stupid tourists! You know, I don't think anyone'd really care--they'd think they're a couple of those weirdoes who go around wearing animal costumes!"

"Fursuiters?" asked Figment, holding a claw up.

"Yeah, whatever, shut up!" Nani said to him before looking back at Maru, scowling. "I thought I said I wanted to know EVERYthing before I could trust you," she said coldly. "Well, I guess I didn't. You know, after finding out you were a psycho--and don't you even THINK about yelling back; you're in NO position right now--I think I could handle finding out that you're friends with a couple of fat dragons!" She waved her hand in their direction as she mentioned them.

Elliott, knowing it was fact, said nothing, but Figment pouted and said, "Hey! I'm not fat!!"

The humans looked down at him. "You're a pear," Nani said.

"That means you're fat," Maru translated.

Figment blanched, then drooped his body and went, "Awwwww...Maybe I should've gone a bit slower on the nachos..."

Nani, despite herself, chuckled once and smiled, though her eyes remained on scowl. She scowled entirely again as she looked back at Maru. "See? I'm fine with them! I don't think they'd eat me...Heck, I'm more afraid of STITCH eating me than these two clowns!"

At THIS, Elliott made a "Heeeey" groan and put his fists on his sides.

Nani continued scolding Maru. "And you, mister I'm-here-to-fight-Heartless, you put these two in costumes that must have bound up their bodies so tight, I'm surprised they didn't complain at all! And you expected them to FIGHT like that?!" she asked, spreading her arms out. "What are you, an idiot?! People do things best when they're comfortable! If I was a dragon, I know I sure as heck wouldn't like my tail and wings wadded up against me all the time!"

Maru, who'd been looking down in half-mock-shame, but more because he was thinking, 'We're screwed, we're screwed, we're screwed...' When he heard this last bit of words, though, he looked up in surprise. "Eh?"

Nani crossed her arms. "You say you want to help me, but you don't let the guys who are here to help you help me work at their best? What kind of logic is that?" she asked, raising an eyebrow. "All those fights I've seen you guys go through, and you weren't letting them go at full strength while YOU got all the glory?! Hmph!" She turned away from him, walking off in a huff.

Maru reached after her, but didn't know what to say. "Nani...I..." he said after a bit. "I'm...I'm sorry."

Nani stopped. "Look," she said. "I saw you trying your hardest today, trying to help Lilo and Stitch...Fighting the Heartless extra-hard to try and make Stitch see that he doesn't have to worry, going along with what stupid stuff my sister asked you to do...And Stitch ended up actually doing bad things that didn't look like really and honestly meant to mess things up for me and my job-hunting," she added, glancing at Stitch. Stitch was looking down at the sand, sitting and looking at the ocean, being a totally pitiful sight. When he heard this, his ears flipped up and he raised his head and turned to look at Nani, probably thinking, 'You mean it?' "You really want to help, it almost looks like. I'll trust you again, IF..." She paused for a while, purposefully drawing it out on him. She finally smirked. "...If you don't make Figaro--if that's his name--and Elliott--if that's HIS name--get back into those clothes."

Maru gaped. "You...You mean it?" he asked, hope in his voice. 'Then we could stay and see if things turn out alr...uh, I mean, possibly find the Keyhole!' he told himself. He got on the sand and bowed pretty deeply into the begging position--not REAL far, but pretty far for him. "I promise, Figment and Elliott can stay how they are, just please trust us! Trust ME! We want to help!"

Nani tilted her head one way, then the other, going, "Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm..." Finally, she turned and smiled at Maru. "Yeah, I guess I could do that," she said. She bent down and held a hand out to Maru. "I trust you, Maru," she said.

Maru looked up, smiling. "Thank you, Nani," he said, and took her hand and pulled up. Figment and Elliott, hearing the news, grabbed paws and started dancing around.

(He didn't notice his clothes fluttering without a breeze.)

Stitch walked over and tapped Nani's leg. Nani looked down at him. "Yes?" she asked. Stitch looked up at her with the best puppy-dog eyes a being with eyes colored all black could muster. Nani chuckled. "I dunno about you quite yet, but you did a good job today trying. I think..."

Stitch smiled a little, nodding.

Maru looked down at Stitch, and Stitch looked up at him. They smiled and nodded together.

(-) You're the devil in disguise

(-) Oh, yes, you are

(-) Devil in disguise

(-) Mmm-mm-mm (Oh, yes, you are)

(-) Devil in disguise

(-) Oh, yes, you are

(-) Devil in disguise

(-) Oh, yes, you are...

_((These are the lyrics that are sung during the ending. The song may end before the scene, as would probably happen here, but I try and imagine it not doing so.))_

- - -

That's how it ended. Maru and Stitch looking at each other, smiling, while Nani looked at them with a bit of a flustered, unsure, but still positive expression. Figment and Elliott were still dancing around in joy.

_((And that's the all-circle ending picture you get at the end of the stage if you got all circles for the sections. I won't do my EBA/Ouendan style anymore, don't worry. This is it. Honest.))_

- - -

The Agents were nowhere to be found when Maru looked around later to reluctantly thank them, since they might not have been able to pull through like that without them.

--

Heh, sorry, had to. That scene in the movie was just so perfectly laid out...I couldn't resist. I just hope it turned out fine...D'AIM, though, this was a frikkin' long-ass chapter for my EBA fic's standards (but standard length for this one...). (By the way, not sure about that "chorus repeated" (-) part...That might be one of those "extensions" the iNiS team does on short songs to make room for sections. Example: "Walkie Talkie Man" repeats the first section's music after the second chorus, but the real song doesn't do that at all.)


	21. 12: Limit of Imagination

Nani left the others alone while she went to the knocked-down lifeguard's tower. Lilo came as well. Both sat down at the same time, looked at what they held--Nani held a paper with jobs written on them, Lilo held a picture of Elvis--and tossed them away sadly.

Just then, David, again shirtless but in swim trunks and sandals this time, came over, carrying a pair of surfboards. "Heeeyy, what's--" he began, but he saw the two and dropped his smile. "Is everything alright?" he asked.

Nani sighed, putting her hand on her face. "Not really," she said.

"We've had a rough day," Lilo said sadly.

David looked away a bit before crouching down and holding the boards up in the sand. "Look," he said softly, coming down. "I may not be a doctor, but I know there's no better cure for a long face than a couple of boards and some choice waves." He smiled at them and asked, "What do you think?"

Nani smiled at Lilo and said, "I think that's a great idea."

Maru came over just then, trailing Stitch, Figment and Elliott. He raised his eyebrows at David. "David?" he asked, and did a perfect Homer Simpson "D'oh!" in his head right afterwards, realizing that now, David knew that dragons existed, too. 'Oh, well, everything's going all to hell, so it doesn't matter anymore, anyway...'

"OH-ee!" David said again. "Are those two...uh..."

"Dragons?" Figment asked, stepping forwards. "Yeah, we are, but don't tell anyone, okay?" he asked, fluttering up to David's face. He smiled at him. "Otherwise we'll have to kill you!" he chirped.

David looked a bit freaked at this, but Maru gave Figment an EXCELLENT hammer-punch on the head, saying, "I think we've had enough troublemaking for one day, Figment. We don't need some stupid lie scaring a family friend right now."

David laughed a little as Figment pouted up at Maru and comically walked off in a huff, holding a big bump on his head. "So you guys are nice?" he asked, looking to Elliott.

"Yeah, they are," Maru answered for Elliott. He thumbed in his direction. "Most people can't understand him," he explained before David could ask why he answered for him. David nodded understandingly. Maru smiled a little, trying to look friendly. "So, what's up?"

David smiled. "We're going to go surfing to cure some long faces," he said, looking at Nani and Lilo, who had stood up. "You want to come with?" he asked.

Maru sweatdropped and waved his hands. "No, thank you, I can't surf," he said. 'I'll be damned if I ever get on a board at all, actually; I don't have time to waste getting myself hurt for no good reason.'

David shrugged. "Alright." He smiled down at Stitch. "You coming?" he asked him.

Stitch looked up and tilted his head in curiosity, wondering what this "surfing" was, and nodded.

"Then come with us after Lilo and Nani are done changing into their swimsuits," David invited. (The girls had, indeed, disappeared for a little while. 'Probably back at their home for their suits,' Maru thought.)

Maru looked at Figment (who hadn't really gone away, since he was only acting) and Elliott. "Well, then, what should we do?" he asked them. The dragons looked around at the vacant beach and all of the warm, inviting sand. They gave Maru puppy-dog eyes and clasped their paws in begging. Maru chuckled and shook his head. "Not yet--we still haven't found the Keyhole yet," he said, waggling a finger. "We'll probably give ourselves FIVE hours out here with all the stress we've gone through here..."

They decided to stick around and wait for Lilo and Nani to watch some surfing, as well as keep an eye on Stitch. When the girls came back, Lilo took Stitch on a surfboard with her and Nani. Before she did, though, she turned to Maru. "I almost forgot! Thank you for helping me and Stitch today, Maru!" she said, smiling. She held something out to Maru. "Here. I made it myself. You can have it." Maru took the gift, thanking her, and watched her go off before looking at what it was. It was a necklace of tiny seashells. A large sand dollar hung as a pendant. Maru smiled and put it in a pocket.

"I'll take it to get appraised for its effect he next time I'm in Radiant Garden," he muttered to himself.

While they were watching the surfing (and laughing as Stitch almost freaked out entirely from the water), though, they failed to notice something coming their way. At least, well, not until something rustled in some greenery behind them (they were seated near the edge of the beach). Elliott turned and saw nothing, again, but knew he heard something. "Again?" he muttered. Another rustle, and he snapped his head to look and saw some bushes moving. "I knew it!"

"What?" Maru looked over his shoulder and twitched his eyebrows up a bit. "It's our invisible friend from before, isn't it?" he asked. "I think I can sense him. Wait..." He looked to its right. "I sense...something else..." He then recalled that he had felt that presence before, when he was talking to Stitch that morning, but he hadn't noticed. Widening his eyes, he took a step back. "I...remember it...from before...with Stitch..." He realized something. "Wait!! That thing has been around Stitch and I all day!!"

Figment winced, backing away as well. "I feel, like, my energy or something slipping away...I'm getting really antsy for some reason," he described. "I think it's coming from that thing!"

The invisible friend was backing off as well. Elliott got up and did what everyone else was doing. "What's going on?" he asked.

"Exactly what I was going to say," Maru said. "I don't know, but I think it's coming from that other presence..." He then gasped, suddenly feeling something all around him. Looking around, he alerted, "They're all around us, now!" He drew his Keyblade.

Figment and Elliott got ready for battle, as well. "I'm getting a bit tired of this," Figment grumbled, narrowing his eyes. "Let's find the source of all these things!"

Elliott and Maru nodded. "But how do we fight them if we can't see them?" Elliott asked.

"That's a good question," Maru commented, putting his free hand on his chin.

"What?" Figment asked. The three were backing up into a circle, facing out at all points.

"He asked, 'But how do we fight them if we can't see them?'" repeated the Keyblader. "I could maybe get by on my ability to sense the auras of people, but..."

Suddenly, a disturbance in the sand signified the invisible friend taking action. Suddenly, one by one by one, the presenses were struck by it...and as they were, they became visible to the naked eye! Maru and the others gasped. These weren't Heartless! Nor were they Nobodies!! They looked like..."Will-o-wisps?" Maru raised his eyebrow at this. "Ghosts...?"

"GHOSTS?!" Figment asked, snapping back around to Maru with wide eyes. Elliott stared wide-eyed at Maru, as well. "Ghosts aren't real!!...Right?"

Maru chuckled. "I thought you'd be happy to meet a ghost," Maru said, laughingly disappointed. "You know, with how horror and imagination correlate..."

Figment gulped as he watched the ghosts appear. When they appeared into the visible spectrum, they looked as if they had just been struck, bobbing back and then forth. The dragon gulped. "Yeah, but n-not THESE ghosts!!" he whined. "They're...They're mean!!"

Maru rolled his eyes. "Well, that's one way of putting it," he muttered. Finally, the last one was revealed. They were each about the size of a small pokémon, like a pikachu, totodile, etc. There were eight. The invisible buddy scampered away in the sand afterwards. "THANK YOU!" called Maru, together with Elliott, to the spot they saw it stop.

"But you won't be seeing them for long," said a voice. "And even so, you won't be able to hurt them..."

Everyone turned and saw a man in a black cloak appear. Maru growled and clenched a fist. "YOU guys!!" he seethed. "What do you want?!"

The man chuckled and produced, of all things, a blind man's cane. "To see if you can understand how it feels to be unable to see," he answered calmly. "Now you see them..." He raised his cane.

A dome of the violet hexagon wall flashed around them. The three gritted their teeth and watched as everything went dark around them. They couldn't see the beasts anymore when it had completely settled around them. "What the...?!" Maru exclaimed.

"...Now you don't," the man finished, lowering the cane, though they couldn't see it. He opened a black portal behind him. "Enjoy a moment of blindness." He backed into the portal and disappeared.

Maru and the others looked around. They could barely see themselves, but they were now surrounded by the will-o-wisp things. Maru grumbled, "Well, this is great...we're going to flail around like idiots while they take potshots at us..." Regardless, the battle began. Maru started forward and swung in the air, feeling stupid when he hit nothing. "Oh, come on!" he muttered.

Navi flew out of Maru's collar at that moment. The light she gave off was painfully bright, even though it was considerably dimmed in the dark cloud the group found themselves inside. "Guys! I can see them just fine!" she said. "I've been able to see stuff like that for my whole life. It comes with the job," she explained. She flew over to one and floated around it, hovering like she did when adventuring with Link. "Over here!"

"Be careful!" Maru said, and he went over and slashed at the target. He missed and hit air. "Hey!"

"Sorry, it moved!" Navi said, moving with it as Maru chased where it was, hitting at it. "I think you might not have to look directly at it...kinda like fighting Poes back home...?" she muttered.

Maru frowned. "Or maybe I can't get a good mental lock on its position and have to hope I hit just swinging in its direction..." He shook his head. "Then what's the use?" Suddenly, he felt his Keyblade pulse with energy. He looked at it. "Wait, that's right! Magic energy's in the Keyblade! Maybe it can help..." He closed his eyes and waited to see if it would give him a burst of inspiration. 'I need to be able to reveal them for a moment or two...'

He knew what to do. Opening his eyes again, he dashed forwards, swinging the Keyblade while trailing red energy. "Ready or not!!" he cried while swinging forwards, then springing back and hitting around behind him, before finally running into a large spiralling slash. As he did, he managed to pass through a will-o-wisp. He grinned as the chance ended. "Foresight...Why didn't I think of that before?" he muttered, then went to wailing away on the ghost.

He found another problem, then. The Keyblade had, for the moment, been depleted of some of its magic power--it went a bit dim(Maru had just noticed that, in this darkness, it glowed a little bit.). For some reason, it went right through the will-o-wisp. "OH, COME ON!!" Maru roared. Figment and Elliott, seeing the fiery thing, tried to hit it, but were foiled as well.

Figment growled and held up a card. "CHILL!!" he ordered, sending out a Blizzard spell.

IT HIT.

The will-o-wisp recoiled from the icy blow. Maru grinned and aimed with his hand. "Maybe Ice Shard..." He fired...and gawked as it missed, as well. "What?!"

Navi gasped. "Maru! The Keyblade!!" she called. Maru looked and saw it was glowing a little bit again. "I think you might need to wait a little while...Wait! Maybe Figment's spell let off some energy..."

"...which absorbed into the Keyblade!" Maru finished. He noddded. "Alright...So I use Foresight, then wait for Figment to cast a spell. And..." Maru swung at the will-o-wisp and grinned as it hit. He completed a combo on it, knocking it back into Figment's Fire spell (which, strangely, worked, despite the ghost being a ball of fire, itself). "...I'll hit it with the Keyblade!"

After Figment had flamed it, Elliott tried using his fire breath, lighting up the area around him a bit. He then looked up after a while with a thumbs-down, frowning and shaking his head. "I think you and Figment are the only ones who can take this battle," he said. "I can't do a thing. Sorry."

Maru shook his head after cursing softly when the ghost vanished again. "That's okay. We can handle this. Navi, you indicate where the enemy is. Figment, cast a spell at it once it reappears. Then, I'll start using my Keyblade to hit it. When it disappears--"

"--lather, rinse, repeat," Figment supplied, smiling.

"...Yeah, I guess," Maru said, sweat-dropping. He got ready. "Let's do thi--" His word was cut off by a bash behind him, a hot one. He grunted and looked behind him, finding nothing. "Great, they DO attack," he muttered, before trying again, "Let's do this!"

After that, the battle really began. Elliott just tried to avoid getting hurt while Maru ran about, waiting for Navi to spot one and fly over. Then, when she did, Maru came over and waited for the chance to use Foresight. After applying the move to his Keyblade again, he revealed two of them the second time in the fight he used the move. He waited for Figment to use a spell and watched him use Thunder on them this time. After that, he dashed around one of the ghosts, smacked them towards the other, and quickly got to the both of them to combo them both at the same time. They vanished soon afterwards and the battle continued.

It was a long, annoying battle for everyone, since the will-o-wisps not only hit with arms of flame, both when visible and when invisible, they fired shots of fire, as well, and they hurt a lot, forcing Maru to use Cure on everyone frequently in order to conserve Figment's magic energy. Magic was the only way they could be defeated, it appeared. Thus, only Maru's Keyblade and Figment's spells worked. (Since Elliott's fire was natural, it must have counted as a pokémon-like move.) When Figment ran out of MP, nobody could do much more than run around--it was a waste of energy and time to use Foresight if you couldn't hit them. (Incedentially, the magic of the Keyblade returned, as well, if the will-o-wisps faded back without getting hit by a spell.) Also, if Maru or Figment's attacks occupied the same space as an invisible will-o-wisp, they ended up successfully hitting them, as well.

The battle was long, as I said, but it was eventually won. Maru and Figment slid towards the center of the arena in the sand, panting a little. "Is it over?" Figment asked, a Fire spell ready in his claws.

Maru grimaced. "More just appeared," he said.

Navi flew out and flew in a circle around them, going to each enemy. "Four more, guys!" she counted. "Who first?" she asked, stopping in front of them.

Maru and Figment looked at Navi for a moment, then looked at each other in the eyes. Something suddenly seemed to register. They nodded together once, slowly.

Elliott saw this and raised his eyeridges. "Eh?" he muttered, standing back with a curious expression.

Maru and Figment looked out and got ready. Figment drew 16 cards from his deck, fit them on his palm, and snapped a claw onto them. Maru twirled his Keyblade in a circle, leaving a red trail. Then, together, they said, "Everyone!"

Maru leaped out and dashed around, slashing in a circle around them and revealing first one, then two, three, and finally four will-o-wisps. When he had finished, he jumped back to Figment, who had four cards in each space between his fingers. He turned around in a circle, tossing one set at a time like kunai knives towards each one. "One...two...three...four!" he counted off as he threw them.

As each card quartet flew, they left a sparkling trail. They struck their targets and began swarming and attacking, like small squads of killer bees. This attack had been used before at Sherwood Forest, Elliott remembered.

Then, Maru dashed back out, Keyblade recharged because, although they were only attack cards, Figment's weapons had been infused with magic to pull off the swarming attack, and thus counted as a spell. Figment jumped away as Maru unleashed one knocking blow after another, one blow to each one in the circle, aiming towards the center. "I...declare...a...war!!" he finished, speaking as he struck as well.

When the four will-o-wisps were together, Figment and Maru faced the group, who had just recovered from the swarming attacks and were about to move around again. The fighters looked at each other. Figment had what was left of offensive cards in his deck in his paw, ready to snap on them, and Maru had the Keyblade ready to be tossed. "NOW!" they cried together, and they began. Figment snapped his claws on the deck, Maru reeled back his Keyblade, and theyhreleased their attacks simultaneously. A massive trail of sparkles followed Figment's cards and Maru's Keyblade made a faint light blue trail as he had his telekinetic grip just touching, but not totally holding yet, the point the key spun around.

Then, when they struck, the weapons just flew like crazy around the ghosts. Cards struck and blasted the enemies while Maru swung his Keyblade around with telekinesis with what was, fittingly, Sora's Judgement sleight from when he made his way through Castle Oblivion. Then, in one final blow, the cards all shot up, Maru's Keyblade went up, and then the latter came down and spun horizontally in a disc of pain, hitting the tight-knit group of will-o-wisps all at once. Then, the cards came down and, using the spinning of Maru's Keyblade, became a tornado of cards, striking them even worse. Within moments, the ghosts had vanished--but not back into invisibility.

The tornado went on for a bit, then finally died down. The cards all disappeared, ready to return upon the moment Figment's magic returned, and Maru's Keyblade reappeared in his hand. Maru now had a minor headache, but he didn't care that much. The two panted, looking at their haniwork, then looked at each other.

"WE did that...?" Maru asked, blinking and putting a hand on his chest.

"WE worked...?" Figment asked, doing the same.

"TOGETHER?!" both cried in shock, each pointing at the other. They looked at each other for a moment before falling back and laughing.

Elliott clapped as he came over. The darkness lifted and the dome faded away as he did. "That was WONDERFUL!" he said, grinning.

Maru shook his head. "What, watching hell freeze over?!" he asked, wiping a tear from his eye. "Honestly, holy shit, I can't believe me and Figment just did something...well, cool! It's actually funny!"

Figment laughed as he sat up. "Yeah, but you know what," he said, wiping his brow, "opposites DO tend to make some of the most creative things--like how black and white work together to tell stories through ink and paper." He shook his head. "But, MAN, you're right! I can't believe this just happened, it's hilarious!"

Navi flew out of Maru's collar and watched them with Elliott. "I think the emotional energy that those things stole is coming back in spades," she muttered. Elliott nodded.

Maru sighed and sat up. "Yeah, I think that's the case, but still, I never saw THAT coming..." He then thought a moment, putting a hand on his mouth and chin. "Is it just me, or are more of these sorts of improvizational tactical attacks and other things done together happening more lately?" he asked.

The other two crossed their arms and thought. "Yeah, I think they are," Figment agreed. "That's scary."

"But it's a good sign that we're becoming more of a team," Elliott said, holding a claw up and smiling.

Maru nodded, suddenly feeling mixed feelings. 'We are, it's true,' he thought. 'But...why bother? I mean...' He looked away. 'I'm not going to need them, eventually...'

Suddenly, his clothes glowed brightly, lighting up a beautiful, solid blue and emitting a bit of a glistening whine. He looked down at them in surprise, and then started when he saw Figment's scales were shining as well. "What the--?!" Maru exclaimed.

"I dunno!" Figment shouted over the sound. "It's like, I dunno, sorta...sorta like when you use your Drive!"

The light then faded and a blue globe containing a symbol of what looked like a tesselating triangular shape appeared between Figment and Maru. It floated towards Maru's chest, touched his shirt, and faded into his clothes, making a ripple of blue light on it as it did. Maru put his hand to his chest after it had absorbed into his clothes. "It...It...What was that?" he asked, looking up again. His teammates shrugged at him. He looked again at his clothes. "Well, I guess it's harmless..." He shook his head. "Well, we'll worry about it later." He stood and stretched. "For now, why don't we go and keep a closer eye on Stitch?" he asked.

The others agreed, and together, they went down to the shoreline.

*****OBTAINED New Drive Form (Currently Unnamed)*****

*****Figment: LEARNED "War" Limit*****

- - -

Sundown soon came. Lilo, Nani, and David had been having fun all the rest of the day, and Stitch was feeling a little lonely. He tried to get their attention sometimes, looked longingly at them playing at other times, and seemed as if he was thinking. Maru often sat by him, trying to provide some company, but Stitch appeared to not care that much, paying more attention to the humans in front of him. Maru, sitting with his back to a palm tree, frowned at this when the sun began to set. "Well," he said to Stitch as Lilo sat, working on a sandcastle, "what's the use of watching if you want to be in the action?"

Stitch looked up at him, questioning look on his face.

Maru smiled down at him and patted his head. "Trust me, life's more fun when you get up the courage and do things," he told him. "It makes us feel more alive."

Stitch's face brightened a little, his ears perking up a little. He nodded and stood up. He pointed to one of the surfboards.

Maru raised his eyebrows. "You sure?" he asked. "You don't seem to like the water much..." Stitch jumped and pointed at it. Maru thought. "Well, alright, but be careful," he said to him.

Stitch went off, and Maru was left alone to sit and think. He seriously considered going with to watch him and get him if he falls into the water in case he couldn't swim. (He forgot an important fact while he did.) He shook his head, though, thinking that he didn't have any way of getting out of and back into his clothes again quickly. He'd feel better if he had his cloak, too. "Besides," he added, chuckling, "all I've got are a pair of boxers and some shorts for a swimsuit, and that's all I'm wearing right now."

Navi flew out of his cloak. "And if you're going to wear your cloak in the water, count me out," she told him. "I'm not going to get wet. You shouldn't wear it in the water, anyway, actually--your stuff inside will get all wet!"

Maru nodded. "True, true," he said. He watched as Stitch shyly walked over to Lilo from behind and touched her with his head. He looked at the surfboard he had brought with and pointed to himself. Lilo gave an open-mouthed smile to this.

Maru sat back and watched Nani, Lilo, and Stitch get on the surfboard and go to the water. "Let's hope he pulls this off well," he muttered. Navi nodded, then remembered to go back into Maru's collar to hide.

Stitch appeared to be doing fine at first, sitting back and propping himself up on his paws. Then, when the paddle-out finished and Nani turned the board around to catch a wave, he got a little nervous. Then, the wave came, and he yelled a bit. Then, suddenly, he got some courage and stood up slowly and walked all the way too the front of the board. And he _grinned_. Maru smiled at this. Suddenly, though, as Stitch jumped for joy and let out a whoop, he saw something in the water coming out of the wave after them. "What on--?!" He was up and running, grabbing a large log he had noticed lying around, before whatever it was grabbed Stitch, upsetting the girls' balance and causing them to wipe out.

Lilo and Nani came up. "What happened?" asked Lilo, treading water.

"Some lolo musta dumped us in the water," Nani said. Suddenly, Stitch came scrabbling up, frantically grabbing for a solid hold--and grabbing Lilo.

Lilo yelled. "STITCH!" she cried before Stitch pulled her under...well, someone pulled Stitch, who pulled Lilo.

"LILO!" cried Nani. She then yelped as she saw Maru zoom towards her, riding the log and propelling himself with telekinesis. "MARU!! HELP HER!" she cried.

Maru didn't need to be told twice. Taking a deep breath, he kicked the log away so that it wouldn't hit Nani and dived into the water.

It was then that he recalled an important detail, causing him to widen his salt-stung eyes:

_**'I can't swim!'**_

He had to try, though. He flailed his arms around and tried to get down lower, thinking he might need to use telekinesis. (Navi popped out of his collar and zipped away, though he didn't notice.) He tried, but he discovered, to his horror, he'd used too much energy propelling the log and himself. 'Now I regret forcing those children through my storm...' Then, to his side, he saw David dive down for Lilo. He ended up kicking Stitch lower. 'DAVID!!' Maru thought, but he knew it must have been an accident. 'How they can resist closing their eyes in seawater, though, I have yet to understand,' Maru thought, fighting to close his eyes. He turned back down to Stitch.

Below, he saw Stitch fighting with Jamba and Pleakley, who were wearing some O2 tanks and trying to put alien handcuffs on him. Stitch managed to cuff the two together before he bit into their tank, sending them up and flying off. Stitch, however, began to drown, having run out of air, and sank down...down...

'NO!' Maru tried to swim down, but found that he had begun running out of breath, too. He began to panic. 'I can't get myself up...but Stitch...' David swam down to grab Stitch, he saw, and was swimming up again. Maru managed a smile. 'Thanks, David...' He then focused on getting himself up again, but he couldn't...He clenched his eyes, face starting to turn blue...

"FIGMENT!! ELLIOTT!!"

Back on the beach, about the time that Jamba and Pleakley were fighting with Stitch, the dragons were standing and watching the events from the shore when Navi came flying, dripping wet, to them. "Navi!" Figment said. "What's that? Little Maru fell down the well?"

"A BIG one," Navi replied, panting. "He dived after Stitch, and I don't think he can swim!!"

The dragons paled. Figment stepped up. "I can!" he said. "I'll get him!" Figment ran and got in the water. "HOLD ON, MARU!!" he called.

Maru heard a faint, squeaky voice as he fell down...down...blackness closed in around his body. 'Who...what...' He fell down, head-first, feeling some deja vu for some reason. Then, he felt the waters calm. He could swear he heard the sound of weeds rustling. Light shone from behind his eyelids. 'Light...?' He opened his eyes. For a second, he saw Mew in front of him and the bottom of Purity Spring around him (upside down, though). Mew touched his chest.

_''Drive.''_

Suddenly, David let out a grunt and some air as something hit him. Maru looked up and saw a black thing with tons of spikes hitting him. 'NO!!' Maru thought. He looked back and saw he was in the ocean once again. 'Drive...' he repeated, still-drowning mind racing. He nodded. 'Best chance I've got.' His clothing glowed bright as he unleashed it silently, using his new Drive.

"Huh?" Figment went as his body flashed before he became energy and flew to Maru.

David was being blocked by what looked like a large, black sea urchin. 'MOVE!' he thought, but he regretted not specifying where to. The thing moved at him...moments before being blasted by blue energy. David took his chance and surfaced as quickly as he could before looking down at a growing light blue light. "What in...?" He shook his head and swam to shore as fast as he could. He made it to shore with Stitch. Lilo, Nani, and Elliott were on shore and looked anxiously at Stitch. He set him down on the sand and started pressing his chest to squeeze out water from his lungs.

Eventually, Stitch began to cough and wheeze. Then, still in panic mode, he thrashed around violently...So violently, Nani instantly picked up Lilo to get her out of danger. Stitch soon calmed down, but too late. Nani looked around and saw, to her horror, Mr. Bubbles. He slowly walked over to her as she set down Lilo. "Nani..." He took off his shades and looked honestly sorry when he stopped by her. "I know you tried, but...maybe it's time to think about what's best for Lilo." Nani was speechless, gaping as her heart froze solid in her chest. Mr. Bubbles softly said, "I'll be back in the morning to pick Lilo up," before turning and leaving.

Nani was heartbroken. She began to cry a bit while she bent down to Lilo. "David?" she addressed, choking on tears. "I have to take Lilo home, now...We've got a lot to talk about, you know?..." She took Lilo, who looked confused at what just happened, and turned around, walking off towards home.

David stood and looked at her as she went, Stitch standing to his side and doing the same. "Wow," he muttered. "You know, I really thought they had a chance," he said softly. He looked down at Stitch. "Then you came." Stitch froze for a second as the remark sank in.

Elliott looked over at her as she left. "No..." he whispered. He clenched a fist. "No...!" He started running after her, but David caught his arm as he went past. He looked at David, a look of, "What the hell are you DOING?!" on his face, but when he saw David's expression, he stopped, relaxing his muscles and softening his face; well, making it more of a sad face like David's.

"Let them be," he said. "And don't worry..." He looked up at him and smiled a little. "You guys tried your best. It's not your fault."

Elliott looked away, nodding a little. His fist still shook, though. 'But...I feel...like...' The scene was broken, however, when something broke the surface of the water violently. David, Stitch, and Elliott turned to see two shapes flying out of the water twenty feet from shore. Then, they landed, one after the other, well on the shore. Elliott gaped at the one who landed to the left side...the one who didn't really land; more like slowed down to a nice hover as sand swirled around his feet. "M...Maru??" he asked in amazement as he realized just who that was.

David heard the "aah-ooh" sounds and gasped. "That's right! I think he was drowning before!" He started to run out, but this time, HIS arm was grabbed. Elliott looked down at him, smiling, and pointed at the figure to the left. David's eyes bulged. "THAT'S--" he began, and was cut off by an "Mmm-hmm!" from Elliott. David crossed his arms. "Well, uh, that's...interesting..." He watched for a moment before whispering to Elliott, "What is he?" Elliott shrugged helplessly.

Figment's power infused Maru's clothing with the power of his magic, much like Donald's power infused Sora's with his. Now, Mewtwo floated inches above the ground, again reborn, but this time just with the same Keyblade as before. His body's colors were a pale periwinkle for the main color and blue for his eyes, stomach, and tail. He had Field-G in his paw, but he wasn't holding it, per say. Instead, it was floating a bit away from his paw, slowly spinning on its own around its center, as if caught in a gentle Strike Raid. Maru's cloak was full-length once again, and he had cuffs on his wrists and ankles with a pattern whose motif was the same as the symbol on the blue orb from a couple hours ago. The orb had been the power of a new Drive form. And it had given Mewtwo back more of the power he remembered. Psychic power. But now, his power as a pokémon had been intertwined with magic power inseperably, giving him the ability to cast spells and use moves at the same time, giving the attacks the properties of both. If there was something that could only be hit by moves standing next to another thing that could only be hit by magic, both would be hit should he attack with a spell/move. Shock Wave became Thund Wave. Ember became Embire. Ice Shard became Blize Zhard. (Cure would always be Cure, however.) Mewtwo could not only use these, but he could use them WELL. Making combos of them, he could alter them to his will without fear of a headache from overworking his diminished psychic powers, as well as do other things requiring psychic power, including firing blasts of psychic power, though now it would be both psychic and magic thanks to the Drive. (He would later learn, however, that while he could use telekinesis, he could not grab enemies very well, oddly enough.) Needless to say, Mewtwo was quite happy with the results of Driving with the most annoying member of his party.

As of now, he hovered above the sand, on his last bar and a half of Drive gauge, glowing light blue with power as he faced his opponent. It looked like a sea urchin, a black ball of violet-tipped spikes with tiny, white eyes and webbed feet just as tiny beneath it. It looked similar to a tiny bagon, having gotten spikes glued all over it and colored black. There was a space above its eyes, presumably its forehead, and on there was the Heartless emblem. It stared at Mewtwo blankly, who stared with glowing eyes back. They faced each other for a few seconds after they had landed, then moved to fight.

But first, let's rewind things a little bit, though, shall we?

- - -

Maru felt the power of his clothing as he continued to drown, nearly fainting before it happened. Then, he felt his body transform. As it did, new air filled his lungs, and he felt such power, it made his heart flutter. After a second that felt like an eternity, he looked around at himself. The salt no longer stung his eyes, and he was no longer Maru. Mewtwo looked at his body, unable to truly look at it since the water shone blue light over him, but as he looked at himself, he noticed two things: He held only one Keyblade, and his headache was GONE. In fact, his head felt great. Familiar. Almost like it was before he'd lost all of his psychic power. He never knew that it had felt different before now. He also noticed his entire bloodstream felt electified with the same power he felt within the Keyblade. 'Have I got magic control and psychic abilities back online?' he guessed. He tried to make an energy ball. What happened was it appeared in front of his paw, the one holding the Keyblade. He felt the Keyblade want to move, oddly. He let it go and saw it spin around a bit in front of his paw, between him and the energy ball. Then, looking up and aiming, he launched the ball at the thing that had just begun attacking David. It hit, and David swam to the surface. All the time, he felt absolutely no strain on his head.

Mewtwo smirked. 'Oh, YES!' He glowed as he began to fly in the water. He flew up to the spikey black thing and aimed at it, still holding his Keyblade in the water in front of him. (The Keyblade had spun faster for a second before beginning to fall when the blast fired, so he had grabbed it with telekinesis and kept it floating in front of him. It spun around of its own accord, speeding up when he did and slowing down when he stopped.) He fired some more shots at it, these ones smaller, weaker, and quicker, reminding himself of Ambrexi as he did. He hit it and drove it away as he got level to it. It went away for a second, swimming through the water while kicking tiny, but powerful, feet at rapid speed.

Thinking back to David, Mewtwo looked up to the surface above him and wondered if he should surface, too, but found his lungs still full of lots of air. 'You know, I never did find out how long I can hold my breath underwater before,' he mused. He poked his head above the surface for a moment and let out his held breath, though, just to be sure. He took a deep breath again and dived back down. He found that he had a lot more air, now, more than he felt before. 'But maybe my body's just using it more efficiently,' he thought. 'I think dolphins can hold their breath for fifteen minutes, and they aren't all that big.'

Speaking of sea creatures, he saw one motering his way. ''Nice try,'' he said, using telepathy, and scooted aside to avoid it. He noticed its features and wondered if it was, indeed, a Heartless pokémon. 'I'll check after I'm out of the water,' he thought, before making the "yeek" face and adding, 'if it still works afterwards...' He focused on the spikey thing in front of him and spun his Keyblade faster. ''Alright, you, bring it!'' he said, and, going in the direction of the waves, flew through the water towards shore. The thing followed him.

It was faster than it looked, however, and hurtled at him at top speed. Mewtwo rolled to the side to avoid it after feeling a chance, taking the moment to fire a charged shot at it. The shot knocked it off-balance for a second. Then, the psychic-type shot at it first thrice, then six times, and finally nine times, getting faster between the breaks he took between shots. He made it a combo, much like how Sora did when in Wisdom form and its magic bullets. The Keyblade rotated like a minigun while he fired the shots. They homed in on the enemy, or at least semi-homed, like fast, cheap heat-seeking missiles. He was going to launch a move, but he thought about it and found that he couldn't--Fire- and Ice-type moves are ineffective against Water-types, which he assumed this was, and using Shock Wave would hurt him, as well, since this wasn't pure, fresh water he was in. So, he spent the duration of the scene that was currently playing out onshore baiting the creature towards land and dodge-and-blasting it when it came at him, then comboing it before it got back on its fins and swam away. After that, he'd fly again, taunting it, and the process repeated itself. This occured about three times, total. The third time, Mewtwo felt a chance. ''Take this!'' he cried, charging up a much bigger blast and sinking below it a bit. Then, the Keyblade spinning very rapidly, he launched the attack. It struck with an explosion, sending the thing out of the water. He shot after it, letting his momentum carry him along as he reached the shore.

The thing hit the sand first, landing on its side and skidding a bit before, after a bit of cute, frantic leg-flailing, it rolled onto its feet. Mewtwo caught himself with telekinesis as he approached the ground, slowing down, bouncing down a centimeter before bobbing up again, settling into a hover. After that, he and the creature stared off with each other, Navi taking the chance to fly into Mewtwo's collar, before the battle continued, bringing us back to the present.

The spikey thing shot off some spikes, using Pin Missile. Mewtwo dodged them and used Shock Wave, grabbing his Keyblade's hilt and pointing up. He was surprised when he found that it was different in the way it felt. He did purposefully use it like Thunder's normally used in the Kingdom Hearts games, which is the same way Figment's spell card cast it. It was yellow and light blue, swirling together. Mewtwo felt the power drain from his stores of it, knowing that it was, indeed, like a spell, since moves alone wouldn't drain that much from his pokémon body. 'But it felt a little like a move,' he thought.

He would think things over later, though, after the fight. He had to make what remained of his time in this form. So, he continued the combo with his six shots, turning around so his back faced his enemy and firing them over his shoulder, switching to his left paw while he kept the Keyblade in one place, stationary while his body twisted around. (When he fires the shots at the first stage of the combo, he just holds his arm out and fires, keeping his upper body stiff while he aimed at the target and letting his lower body move along with the direction of his flight. When firing for the first attack in his combo, he keeps the Keyblade in one place while switching back to his right paw, continuing his own spin towards it for the first three shots, then back flipping and, while inverted, pausing the flip, looking up, and firing with the Keyblade in his left paw, and finally keeping it "attached" to his paw while he twisted around to his left and finished his BS Backflip 360 by sliding down on his seat, legs scooping down above the ground and making him look as if he had just gone down a quarterpipe and his lower body slid out faster than his torso could follow. He sat back at a 120-ish-degree angle and fired the last three shots by holding out both paws before the Keyblade.)

Finally, he ended his combo with one last Shock Wave, or Thund Wave as he would later call it. (He didn't rename them yet--I just listed them above in the description of his new Drive form because it helped describe things.) He cast/used the spell/move three times in one go. The first bolt he sent by spinning the Keyblade up in the air, tossing it up and releasing his telekinesis on it. The light blue bolt struck, curving from the left side (when looking at the target face-to-face), some smaller other ones zapping to the left side, striking an area, and stayed there for the duration of the whole attack, which didn't last very long (just about a second and a half--Mewtwo moved FAST). The second bolt, yellow, came down, releasing some other smaller bolts like the first, as Mewtwo caught the Keyblade's hilt. Finally, with a slash downwards that ended by pointing at his targer, Mewtwo cast down a great blue-and-yellow bolt right down the center to the target, sending some electricity across the ground in a 6' web of thin yellow and light blue lightning. The lightning always faded instantly when it struck the ground unless it was one of the two main bolts striking the target before. (Get confused with my descriptions yet during this chapter? XD; )

With that, Mewtwo flashed, groaning as he became Maru and landed on the sand, the feeling of power fading. He was dry again, though, at least. The enemy in front of him staggered a bit, appearing to be on its last legs. Maru looked at the Keyblade still held pointing in front of him. "It's not changing," he muttered. "Maybe..." He focused on the Keyblade, trying to tell it, 'Become a ball...Become a ball...' To his delight, it flashed and became a Light Ball again, and without much focus, either. "Perfect!" he said. He ran towards the spiny sea creature so that he was in throwing range for the ball, then skidded. Without hesitating any further, he spun the ball around his body again while he spun in the opposite direction. "Light Ball..." He grabbed it as it spiraled up to him and threw it with another spin of his body. "...GO!!"

The ball seared through the air, glowing black as it spun around. It hit one of the spikes dead-on, but it didn't get speared. It bounced off with a CHINK!, floated back a bit while it turned to the creature, opened up, and sucked it inside after turning it into white energy, light and darkness swirling around it as it came into the ball. It landed onto the sand, bouncing a bit as it wobbled left to right. Maru clenched his fists and held his breath. 'I don't want to get Terroge hurt on one of those spikes,' he worried.

Finally, though, the ball stopped wobbling and emitted the soft puuun sound that signifies a successful capture. Maru smiled and started walking over, but stopped when the ball glowed white and released a great heart to the sky. "Forgot about that," he muttered as he went and picked up the ball. He held it in his hand and smirked. "Well," he said, and he tossed the ball in the air, "I caught..." He turned around, letting the ball fall a little ways before he caught it in a way that it slowed, then bobbed back up after having gone down twice the distance it had been tossed up. He caught it with his left hand when he was almost turned the entire way around, when the ball had reached the exact horizontal level it was at when it had left his right hand. "...a Heartless Pokémon," he finally finished with pride in his calm and cool voice.

Elliott and Figment, who had appeared a bit by Elliott, clapped at this. David and Stitch just stood and gaped at the whole thing. Finally, David pointed at Maru and asked, "What the heck was that all about?"

Maru smirked, minimizing the ball and putting it on his belt. "That was something called a Heartless Pokémon," he said. "I'm able to capture them after fighting them. I probably should have battled it properly, with a pokémon of my own, but I didn't want to waste my Drive form, which is what you saw me in a minute ago." He sighed as he stopped by David. "Please promise me you won't tell anyone and that you won't think about it too much in the future, will you?" he asked, looking sorry.

David nodded, looking a bit uneasy at what just happened. "Yeah, promise," he said quickly. "Trust me, I don't think anyone would believe me if I told them. In fact, I don't know if -I- believe what I just saw..." He shrugged and sighed. "Well, I have other things to think about, right now," he said, drooping his head a little.

Maru tilted his head questioningly. "What's wrong?" he asked.

"Lilo's getting taken by Mr. Bubbles tomorrow morning," Elliott answered sadly. He looked worried. "Oooohhh...I wish there was SOMEthing that could be done..."

Maru sighed. "I don't know if anything CAN be done," he said, raising his arms and flopping them back to his sides. "I don't know what it is that did it, but if Nani could have gotten a job today, maybe things would have turned out better..."

David, who was moping a bit, head down, raised his head at this. He then nodded his head, a determined look on his face. "See you," he said without turning, and he ran off.

Stitch stayed there, looking at him go. He sighed and sat down in the sand, seeming really down. Maru crouched down to him. "What's wrong?" he asked again.

"Stitch had drowned a little, but David helped bring him back by squirting water from his lungs," Elliott explained. "Then, Stitch started to panic, thrashing around and stuff, and I think he's afraid that that's what happened to make Mr. Bubbles, who had come over here before, decided to take Lilo away." He sighed through his nostrils and lowered his head a bit, strangely sad.

Maru looked with worry on his face at Elliott. Seeing him sad like this unnerved him. "What's wrong?" he asked for a third time.

Elliott looked at Maru with worry written all over him. "David said it wasn't our fault, but I still feel like I...like I failed..." he told Maru, tears starting out his eyes.

'He's crying?! Oh, shit, that's not a good sign...he must be shaken up...' Maru thought. He asked, "What do you mean, you failed?"

Elliott sniffed, wiping a tear away. "I'm a defending dragon," he started to explain. "It's my duty to defend children, to be exact. I defend others, but kids are my specialty. I...had to leave my world because...uh...the Heartless attacked." When he paused, he, for some reason, looked like he was thinking fast..."I haven't been back for a while...I hope nothing bad's happened to Pete..."

"Pete?" Maru repeated. "Is that the child you were defending?"

Elliott nodded. "Yeah...I...I don't want to talk about him right now, though," he muttered, wiping his eyes with his arm. "It'll just make me even more homesick."

Maru nodded, smiling a bit. "I understand," he said soflty.

The big dragon smiled and nodded. "Thanks...But anyway, I feel like I failed because I wasn't able to keep Lilo with her sister, who obviously loves her. When I see that a child has become happy, I can--I have to--move on and find another one who's in trouble," he explained. He paused a little before he continued, "So, since Lilo's getting taken away, I feel like I've failed. I'm sure that she'll be happy here once things get stable and stuff. If only there was something we could do..." He sighed and looked away.

Maru put a hand on the back of his neck. "I'm sorry, but I can't think of anything," he said. He smiled a little. "Let's go back so we can at least say good-bye tomorrow morning."

With a sniff, Elliott nodded and turned to start going. Maru and the others followed. Stitch didn't seem in a good mood, either. "It couldn't have been all your fault, Stitch," Maru told him. "You're getting better, trust me. I guess you panicked back there because it's natural to feel scared after nearly drowning. You just reacted to your fear--nothing strange about that," he assured him. He smiled down at him. "Don't worry, okay?" he asked.

Stitch nodded quietly, obviously unsure.

Figment trotted over so he was walking beside Maru. "Hey, Maru," he said. "Did you use your Drive and pick me for once? If you did, thanks! It feels good to help someone like that!"

Maru smiled a bit. "You gave me a new kind of power, one different from what Elliott gives me when I Drive," he told him. "After my experience in it, I think I might be choosing you a lot more for Drives. I had fun using enhanced psychic power, as well as casting spells while using the special moves I've learned simultaneously. It was quite different, really, it was. Thanks for lending me your power." He gave a little blush as he added, "And don't think that I avoided choosing you, before; I've only been able to enter Hitmon Form, which is what I've named Driving with Elliott, up until now."

Figment nodded back in understanding. "Iiiiiii see," he said. "Thanks, I was worried you neglected me for some reason."

Maru gave a nervous chuckle. 'I...kinda was, no offence,' he thought. 'It's just that you're a little...dorky, that's all...'

Figment thought for a second. "So, what are you going to name your new Drive form?" he asked.

Maru put a hand on his chin. "I don't know yet," he answered. "It's going to be a bit hard..." He thought of the pokémon he knew about and tried to find one that could use a variety of good special attacks, or at least one that appeared to be related to magic. The only thing he could think of was Mismagius, so he finally said, "I think, for now, I'll call it my Mis Form. I might change it later, though, but it'll work for now."

Figment said it was an interesting name and he liked it, and then the party fell silent as they made their way back to the road.

- - -

The Heartless didn't give them much rest, though. They fought together while making their way back home, the sky turning darker as they moved on and night set in. Stitch fought Heartless along with them, getting a bit of frustration and negative feelings out. It was night by the time they had reached the house. Stitch slowly made his way up the steps to a little balcony attached to the house while Maru and the others stayed at the foot, letting them have some time alone.

Lilo and Nani were lying in a hammock up there, Nani having Lilo in her lap. They both had a white flower in their hair. She was softly singing to Lilo to the tune of a song that Maru recognized.

"_Aloha oe_

_Aloha oe_

_E ke onaona noho i ka lipo_"

Nani took her flower and Lilo's from their hair and held them in her hands and her sister's, opened up to show them to her before closing them again.

"One fond embrace

_A ho'i a'e au_

Until we meet again"

Together, the two let go of the flowers, letting them blow away.

(Sorry if these are wrong--it's what my tv's captions said)

Stitch looked up at them with sorry eyes. For understandable reasons, he didn't join them in the hammock. After watching the flowers blow away in the wind, he went down the steps and back to the house. Maru waited until he had walked past before he quietly made his way up the steps to the girls. They looked up as he approached. "Nani...Lilo..." he said softly as he got to the landing. He made the bow that asks for forgiveness to them. "I am so very sorry that we couldn't help keep this from happening. We'll be leaving if you'd like for us to."

Nani sighed. "That's alright, Maru," she said quietly, smiling a little bit. "It's not your fault." Maru stood straight again after thanking her. "You tried, though, and I thank you for that," she told him.

"No problem," Maru replied, nodding, and put a hand on the back of his neck as he searched for something to wish them. "I...I hope things turn out alright, despite the circumstances..." he decided.

"Thank you," Nani said, though she sounded like Maru could have said something better.

Maru cleared his throat. "We...can leave now, if you'd like," he said.

Nani looked at Lilo and sighed. "Yeah...You can stay and say goodbye tomorrow morning, if you'd like, though," she told them. "...Good-night..."

Maru bowed. "Good-night, Nani, Lilo." He turned around and walked down the steps. "Okay, let's go," he said quietly to his teammates as he passed them. They silently followed him away.

As they left, Nani whispered, "Thank you," to the wind.

- - -

Later that night, Stitch removed Lilo's pillow. The picture beneath it was one that he had seen the night before, one Lilo had taken back defensively and valued very much. Now, though, she was a bit more gentle. "Those are my parents," she said as he took a look at it. She had walked in behind him when he had visited the room. Stitch looked at her as she explained what happened. "It was dark, and the roads were slick, and they were out for a drive."

Stitch could gather what happened. Lilo looked calmly down when she spoke, but she looked up and asked Stitch, "What about your family?" At this, Stitch gasped a bit and turned around, nervously grabbing the pillow while he looked like he had the "what am I going to do?" look on his face. "I hear you crying at night," Lilo continued. "I know that's why you break things...and push me..." Stitch looked at the pillow before slowly turning around, putting the pillow back where it was. He hopped off of Lilo's bed and took the book containing the story of The Ugly Duckling in it before heading for the window.

Lilo got into bed while he went. "You're leaving too, aren't you?" she asked. Stitch stopped when he was on the windowsill for a moment, pausing before, with a sad expression, slowly crawling out, holding onto the wood with his claws as he went. Lilo sat up in bed and watched him go. "It's okay," she said, not a single tear in her voice. "I'll remember you, though." Stitch stopped again, outside and under the windowsill. Lilo put her head down on her pillow as she said, softly, calmly, "I remember everyone who leaves."

Stitch looked mixed. He pulled himself up to the sill again, looking at Lilo, who had turned over to go to sleep. He slowly let himself down again and continued to leave, taking his book with him.

Maru watched all of this from their campsite. "Stitch..." he whispered, putting down the binoculars.

"What's up?" Figment asked, looking up.

Maru sat for a moment, silent and still. Then, he said, "I...need to use the bathroom," as he got up and made his way down the way out.

Figment and Elliott blinked and looked at each other in wonder.

Stitch walked through the jungle until he reached the clearing in the jungle where Maru and his comrades had fought Heartless the night before. No Heartless appeared, though, and he set his book down on a rock, opening it to a page where a picture of a gosling stood, crying, with a speech balloon from him saying, "I'm lost!"

"L...L..._Lost_," Stitch read. He turned and looked at his surroundings. "I'm lost," he said out to nobody. The sounds of the evening met him, and he looked around, holding up first one ear, then the other.

Maru, who didn't need the bathroom at all (thanks to the wonderful magic of the save disc--heh, now, don't you want one of those things?) and had lied to make an excuse to why he had to leave, stayed out of sight on the path to the clearing. He watched and waited. Stitch looked around some more before sighing, drooping his ears, and lying down to sleep. In a few minutes, with some silent tears, he was asleep. Maru sighed as he looked at Stitch, sitting on the sloped path. "Stitch..." he muttered. "Don't feel alone..." He lowered his head, bangs obscuring his eyes. "I'm lost, too."

He thought back to his memories of Ai. 'Ai...Why did you have to go?' he asked. 'Why? Could...Could we have been a family if you survived?' He thought about it and decided, 'No...Giovanni would have separated us...kept me for his own...But it still would have been nice if we could have stayed together for a little while longer...' Tears silently crept down his face. 'Ai...the only thing close to family I have...or had...' he closed his eyes, slowly lying down. 'We could have grown up together...in our own little world...How would my life be if you hadn't gone? Would I have ever tried to commit the world's largest act of genocide? What...Why...I...Ai...'

- - -

Yeah, it's gonna be a FIVE-parter! Sorry! I honestly didn't think that I'd be drawing an 80-minute movie out this far...but, then, I always do, since I'm not comfortable changing the story as much as the games do in order to shorten the game...but, hey, this is a fanFICTION, not a fanGAME...as much as I wish it could be...


	22. 12: DESTRUCTION! ! 1000 x 1

_'Wh...What?'_

_Mewtwo fell, inverted as per KH usual, through the water. Darkness surrounded him as he opened his eyes. He was a pokémon again, and he was violet for the first time in ages. He looked about and found he wasn't alone. To his left was a girl he remembered getting a glimpse of at home on the night he had lost his home. She had played with a band of pokémon, playing bass and handling vocals. To his left was, to his surprise, the boy he had defended the night before he lost his powers. 'What...? Why are these two children here?...'_

_''Ask, and ye shall recieve,'' quoted a soft, young voice._

_'Huh?' Mewtwo looked forward and found a mew, composed entirely of light, floating in front of him. 'Who--'_

_''Be patient,'' it interrupted. ''You will understand in time. Now is not it.'' And it vanished._

_Mewtwo blinked. 'What was that all about?' he wondered, slowly closing his eyes again._

- - -

Maru slowly woke up, groaning. "Uuuuhn...Ow..." He lifted his face and found dirt, leaves, and a few bug bites on it. "I slept outside? Aw--The save disc had BETTER cure bug bites," he grumbled, getting up and stretching before he went up the slope. He found his teammates weren't anywhere to be seen. 'They must be looking for me,' he realized. He sighed. "I guess I shouldn't've let myself fall asleep..." He walked to the save disc and found, to his relief, it DID cure bug bites. He also lost his hunger and felt better overall, which he was grateful for, but he would rather have satiated his needs the normal way, which he was missing after so long using the save disc. After checking to see if it was too late to say good-bye to Lilo and finding her still asleep, he turned and went back down the hill. "I'll bet they might end up getting to Lilo's to say good-bye," he muttered, putting his hands behind his head. "I should get there, too. She might wake up soon, or Mr. Bubble-head might come, one or the other." He stopped when he saw Stitch still asleep where he was. "Oh!" he said softly. "He's still asleep...Guess I feel a little better about sleeping in the wild, now..." He was about to creep to him when the bushes at the edge of the clearing rustled.

Stitch lifted his head, waking up at the sound of the noise. Hoping it would be Lilo, he got up and raised his head, but his heart sank and paused when he saw it was only Jamba, walking over and aiming a gun at him. "I've got you now," he said. "Do-Don't move!" He shook a hand as Stitch started moving backwards. "...You were expensive," he reasoned. He tilted his head. "Why are you here?" he asked, slowly stepping towards him.

Stitch backed away very slowly. "W...Waiting," he responded quietly.

Jamba raised an eyebrow. "Waiting? For who?" he asked just before stepping on something. He stopped and lifted his foot. He had stepped on the book, still open to the same page as it had been the night before.

"Family," responded Stitch quietly.

"OOOOoohh! A family!" Jamba said, as if it was all clear to him now. He narrowed his eyes. "You don't have one," he told him a little darkly. "There is no place for you here. You can never belong," he told what he felt was the dark truth. Maru heard this and tensed, the words striking a chord in him. Jamba continued gently, stopping and making the "after you" gesture with his arm and lowering his gun, "Now, come with me, quietly, and we shall take you apart." At this, Stitch bolted like a wild rabbit, and Jamba widened his eyes, stuttering, "N-n-no, wait, don't run, don't run--aiiEEE..." He annoyedly rolled his whole head as he hiked up his huge gun again before setting off after Stitch.

Maru narrowed his eyes. "I can see Lilo later," he said. "I'm not letting Stitch get...'taken apart,' whatever that means!!" He ran off.

- - -

David, in shorts, sandals, and, AGAIN, no shirt--Come on, what's with that? Was that part of his original character design, or what?--knocked on Nani's door loudly, panting a bit. A few moments later, she answered the door. She looked genuinely surprised when she saw David. "Nani!" he said excitedly, thankful it was her.

"David? What is it?" she asked, looking worried.

David smiled and thumbed back before happily saying seven words that made Nani's heart flutter with hope: "I think I found you a job!"

Nani gaped. "Seriously?!" she asked.

David nodded. "Yeah, down at old...shoot, spacing on the name, 's shop! Come on!"

Nani gladly got out of the house. "Oh, thank you, David," she said. "Oh!" She paused, turning around and running back in. Lilo, who was standing there in the hall, looked up as Nani crouched down by her, holding her for a moment. "Lilo, stay here. I'll be right back. Lock everything up and don't answer the door for ANYONE, got it?" she asked. She stood before Lilo gave her an answer and started out the door again. "Things are finally turning around," she said as she left. She raced down the front steps after David. "David, you're a lifesaver," she said. "How could I ever repay you?"

"It's okay," David said, the two starting full-tilt down the road. "Just go out with me and we'll call it even." As soon as the two had disappeared, Stitch shot out of the jungle by the road, followed by Jamba, who skidded to a halt as he turned quickly.

"Don't run away!" he called before chasing him again.

Maru, Keyblade in hand, broke out of the jungle then, skidding around as well. He looked right, then left, and found Jamba running after Stitch towards the house. "Come back here!!" he seethed, and took off after him.

Lilo stood, alone, in the house. She held her hand-made doll Skruff in her hands as she entered a hallway. Suddenly, Stitch skidded in front of her. Surprised, she raised her head and said, "Stitch?" in surprise.

He looked at her in surprise, probably thinking, 'Oh, crap, I forgot she's still here!' before looking back at the door he just ran out of as Jamba, chuckling, came in.

When Lilo saw him, she gasped and hid behind Stitch.

Jamba laughed at the two. "Hiding behind her won't work on me anymore," he told Stitch. "What did I tell you? We were FIRED this morning!" He aimed and fired at Stitch.

Stitch pushed Lilo aside and caught the ball of green plasma, rolling back on the stairs behind him from the force but catching it nonetheless. Jamba looked in surprise at this. Stitch laughed triumphantly breifly before he tossed it from paw to paw, making sounds about how it was hot. He finally reeled back and tossed it, hitting Jamba in the head, knocking him on his back in the living room, and causing the ball to bounce all over the place, eventually hitting Lilo's record player, sitting in the middle of the living room. "Hound Dog" started up as Jamba sat up. "Uuuhn..." he groaned, then smiled and bounced his body to the beat a bit as he heard the music. "Oooh, I love this song!" he said.

Meanwhile, Stitch was fixing up Skruff to become...something. He asked Lilo for tools one at a time, like a surgeon would a nurse. Moments later, a curious Jamba bent down to see Skruff, tied to a roller skate, come out. "What the...?" he muttered before it exploded in a forceful explosion that knocked him into the kitchen. Stitch must have taken the blob of plasma, somehow, and stuffed it with Skruff, who sprung out, miraculously unharmed, as Stitch laughed hysterically. The music stopped for some reason. The player must have been unplugged by force of a shockwave from the blast.

Maru skidded in through the cloud into the room Stitch was in. Lilo gasped as he came in. "Maru! What are you--" she began, but Maru shushed her.

"Quiet, I wanna scare the pants off this guy," he told her, and stood beside the doorframe, waiting.

Jamba growled and stood up. "Alright, if you want to play, then we will play," he muttered, getting up and pulling a shelf full of plates off the wall. "Don't worry, we'll put you back together!" he said, trying to reason with him during the fight. He entered the room and began throwing plates at Stitch, who had crawled to the roof of the house. Every time he missed, he made a whole in the roof. He began tracing a path as the destruction began. "I make you taller! And less fluffy!"

"I LIKE FLUFFY!" cried Stitch, grinning down at him and swinging an arm off.

"But it certainly doesn't make you intimidating, does it?" he asked.

"You've obviously never seen me using one of my Drive forms, then," Maru said, stepping behind Jamba and pointing his Keyblade to his back.

Jamba gasped and jumped back, spinning around. "YOU!" he said, pointing at Maru. 'He DID see us!' Maru thought. "I don't have time for you!" He launched a kick, but Maru jumped up, using telekinesis to boost his jump, and then used a modified form of it to let him stick onto the ceiling by his feet near Stitch.

Stitch looked at him in surprise. "Maru?" he asked, eyebrows raised.

"My work here's not done until I say so," Maru said, smirking while he hung upside-down, big hair making him look funny. "And part of it involves making sure you're safe."

"Oh-HO! So you ARE with him!" Jamba said, laughing and pointing. He tossed out a few more plates, but Maru and Stitch avoided them. "You know what I do this morning?" he asked. "I take your friends hostage to make sure they don't mess things up! I KNEW you would come to ruin things!" He ran out of plates and decided to go for broke, tossing the whole thing at them.

Maru smacked it away with his Keyblade. "Oh, but I just wanted to play, too!" he said. 'That would explain their absence,' he thought.

Stitch then hung like Maru did, looking smug as he said something in his alien language and pointed at Jamba.

Jamba growled and pointed at him. "You leave my mother out of this!" he ordered.

At that point, Maru noticed the pattern of holes in the roof and paled as he heard the creaking of what wood held the island they were on up remained. "Uh-oh!" he exclaimed before the part of the roof dropped, sending both him and Stitch onto the floor.

Jamba walked over, reaching for the debris to get Stitch. "I tried to give you my good looks," he said, "but...let's face it...something...went wrong..." He felt a broom beating his back and he turned around as if someone had just called him.

"Leave him alone!" cried Lilo, beating with all her little strength.

This distracted Maru and Stitch long enough for them to jump out at Jamba, tackling him to the floor. "I think that 'something' was the source of those so-called 'good' looks," Maru trash-talked, jumping off the big alien with Stitch while in the kitchen.

Jamba growled. "Oooooh-hoooh," he said, getting up. "So, you want to fight, eh?" He cracked his large knuckles. "Then we FIGHT!!" He hoisted his gun and aimed at Maru and Stitch.

The unique battle began in the kitchen. Maru and began working together with just Stitch for what would be a pretty long time, compared to how often he's with only one teammate at a time. Jamba fired, but Maru used a chance to deflect it. It bounced away and Maru felt another chance as he basically used Warp Snipe on the ball a few times before slashing it right back at Jamba, making him let out a pained cry. He took the opportunity to land a combo on him, Stitch helping out with his claws.

After that combo, though, the two fighters had to sidestep a shoulder barge, ending up in front of a door. Having lost his gun for the moment, Jamba pulled out what appeared to be a Swiss Army Knife, which sprung out to hold weird things, such as a tube of toothpaste. He threw the whole thing like a shuriken at the two, mainly aiming for Stitch. They jumped aside as soon as he had thrown it, and the door opened behind them right after. Pleakley poked in, searching for his partner, before yelping and slamming the door shut again, curving his body away from the tool as it poked through the wood, toothpaste squirting out.

Jamba grumbled, sliding his hand down his face, "You always get in way!!"

Pleakley scrambled up his side, grabbing a lapel. "Where is the girl?" he asked nervously. "Tell me what you did with the girl!"

Outside, Maru and Stitch were at the garage, the former trying to figure out how he could explain to Nani why her house was getting trashed. "I'm supposed to be helping...I'm not really--" he began muttering before Stitch picked up Nani's blue VW. He widened his eyes as Stitch ran to the house. "Oh, no, you aren't," he said, following him.

But, yes, he was. Suddenly, Stitch bashed a hole in the wall by swinging the car, hitting Jamba in the process (Pleakley hopped off beforehand, seeing the car swinging in the window.). "Blue punch buggy!" he said brightly.

Jamba landed on Nani's bed, surprisingly not breaking the wall, which held up even when Stitch said, "No punch back!" and, well, punched Jamba with the poor car. Jamba kicked the car away and the fight carried on into the rest of the house.

Maru blanched at the damage to the house. "Okay, Stitch, you can talk," he called, then pointed at him. "YOU tell Nani why it's falling apart!!" He shook his head while looking up and jumped into the fight again. "I'd step aside, things are gonna get ugly," he told Pleakley, who yelped and tried to hide from him for some reason.

The fight commenced in the kitchen again, but it didn't stay there--the hall and living room became battlegrounds, too. Jamba fought with his gun and brute size. Maru got hit a few times, but he recovered well and was able to heal himself and Stitch with Cure. He used the Warp Snipe chance when he needed to, using the time to land a free combo on the alien. After the third one of these combos, Jamba was down for a little while.

Stitch grinned and got an idea, dashing off into the rest of the house. Maru reached after him, but he had to contend with Jamba, who stood up again. "He'll be right back," Maru told him, smiling, before the two went at it again, fighting in the hall.

"Hello?" Lilo asked, holding up the phone. "Mr. Bubbles? Aliens are attacking my house," she said, sounding like a kid was being unfair to her.

Pleakley heard this, yelped, and raced to the phone. He grabbed it and said calmly into it, "Everything's under control," before Lilo shoved him aside and grabbed the reciever again.

Mr. Bubbles, driving along in his car, looked at his cell phone as he heard the new voice for a second before putting it back to his ear. "Lilo? What's going on?" he asked.

Lilo looked and smiled. "Oh, good, my dog found the chainsaw," she said, and, ignoring Mr. Bubbles' "LILO!", hung up and hopped off the chair. Maru, hearing this, stopped and whipped his head to look at Lilo in alarm.

Indeed, one of the best lines in the movie was true, and Stitch had found the chainsaw. He stood on top of a pile of rubble with it raised above his head and cackled maniacally, the roar of the world's most dangerous tool filling the air. He ran down, charging with it in paw.

'That's WAY too much!' Maru thought, and grabbed the nearest thing to him--oddly, a plunger, of all things. He struck Stitch right in the head, knocking him back and causing the chainsaw to fly out of his paws. "DUUUCK!" Maru cried, and everyone (except Stitch, who had the plunger to deal with) dived out of the way of the weapon. It fell blade-first into the floor and started off, carving up holes in the kitchen before dashing into the living room and dealing damage there. Maru watched this with a look of worry on his face. "You know, maybe it would just be better if the whole place fell apart, at this point," he muttered, crossing his arms and tilting his head.

Careful what you wish for...Stitch, meanwhile, ran to the fridge from Jamba, who aimed at him with the gun. "Ah-HAH! I've got you now!" Jamba said, charging a shot.

Stitch took the chance and quickly grabbed a carrot and shoved it in the muzzle right as it fired, plugging it. The strange gun began expanding as the plasma built up inside of it.

"Oh!" Jamba said, alarmed. He tossed it to Stitch. "Happy Birthday!" He started to run.

Stitch held it, alarmed, too. "Oh...uh, Merry Christmas," he bade, tossing it back to Jamba.

Jamba turned around and caught it. It appeared that if it was dropped, something bad would happen. "It's not Christmas!" he said, giving it back and turning to run again.

Stitch tossed it right back, saying, "Happy Haunnika!" (Apologies to any offended Jewish people out there if I didn't spell that one right--I've always had trouble with it.) Jamba ran back and caught it.

Pleakley freaked when he saw what was going on and grabbed up Lilo, starting to run while carrying her on his shoulder. "Where are we going?" Lilo asked, fighting his grip and losing.

"Far away from here!" Pleakley answered. He grabbed Maru's cloak as he passed by. "You, too, c'mon!"

"But what about Stitch?" asked Lilo. Maru snatched back his cloak as he ran with, having an idea what was going to happen.

"Trust me," Pleakley said, running over some debris and out the door, "this is NOT going to end well!!"

Maru looked over his shoulder, ready to use Barrier. "Oh, boy," he muttered. "Where'd you guys hide my comrades?" he asked Pleakley.

"In the jungle somewhere! LATER!!" he squeaked, running as fast as his three legs could carry him.

Meanwhile, Jamba and Stitch were passing the gun, which was beeping at a high pitch and rate, back and forth at a rapid rate.

Maru looked behind him at the house. "Don't do anything stupid, Stitch," he muttered worriedly.

"My-"

"-mother-"

"-told-"

"-me-"

"-you-"

"-are-"

"-it..." Stitch finished, passing the gun to Jamba. He had a face of failure on while he sat down, seeing that it was too late anyway.

"Ha-HAAAH! I win!!" Jamba said, holding the gun and smiling triumphantly.

The house then exploded in a green cloud of plasma, basically destroying what was left, proving why you NEVER leave kids under the age of 10 home alone for any period of time without a babysitter. (Boo on you if you can't appreciate that as a joke and insist on saying, "But it was the aliens' fault, not Lilo's!" MY story, MY narration.) Maru put up as big a Barrier as he could, but it could only protect himself. Pleakley and Lilo were hit by a big piece of wood--well, Pleakley was. He rolled, letting go of Lilo on the ground, continued rolling, and, as he came up again, flew off into the jungle. Maru skidded, letting his Barrier down as he raced back to Lilo. "Lilo! Are you alright?" he asked.

"Where's Stitch?" she asked, a worried look on her face.

Maru nodded and raced off to find Stitch. He thought he might be in the jungle, so he went and looked around inside it.

- - -

Stitch, meanwhile, was unconcious on the road. A while later, he came to, pulling on his lower eyelids as he returned to the waking world. He had reverted back to his full alien form, but he saw footsteps and gasped, quickly fading back to his vaugely doglike form. He saw that the house was on fire, and Nani was running back to it. He looked around and found, though burned a bit, the picture of Lilo with her family on the ground. He took it and decided to hide in the jungle.

"...And one of them had big eyeball right in the middle of his head!" described Lilo as she was put in the backseat of Mr. Bubbles' car by its renter.

"NO!!" Nani cried, reaching them. "You can't do this!" she said, distraught.

"I'm sorry, but I have to," Mr. Bubbles said.

"You don't understand!" Nani told him. "She NEEDS me!!" She was completely hysterical when she said this.

Mr. Bubbles turned on her and shouted, "Is THIS what she needs?!" while holding an arm out to the burning house, where firefighters were starting to put it out. "Is THIS the life she's going to live?! Maybe YOU'RE the one who doesn't understand!"

Lilo heard all of this in the backseat. Nani begged to Mr. Bubbles as Lilo looked out the window of the car to the jungle. Thoughts raced through her head behind her half-eyed look. Then, she decided that she just wasn't going to take it and opened the door on the other side of the car, proving that you should ALWAYS rent cars with child safety locks, ESPECIALLY if you're a social worker. Lilo ran out into the tropical forest, and a few moments later, she heard Mr. Bubbles shouting, "LILO!!"

She ran on through the jungle, though, unsure of what she was going to do.

- - -

"Stitch!!" Maru called, looking around, and he dashed about a bit more before calling out again, "STITCH!!" But to no avail. He sighed, drooping his upper body. "Oh, please, don't be gone..." he muttered. Suddenly, he heard a rustling. He whipped to look and first saw plants moving, but with nobody being there. His face brightened a little. "Hey, Mr. Invisible!" He watched the movement of plants as it went towards him. "Hey, can you show me where--" he began Maru, but Mr. Invisible ran past and scurried off down the path. "--Stitch...is..." Maru let the hand he had held up droop before letting the rest of his upper body droop again, sighing again. "This isn't turning out to be a good day," he grumbled.

"Tell me about it!"

Maru turned around and saw Figment and Elliott walking through the foliage towards him, coming from the direction Mr. Invisible had come from. 'He must have led them here,' he realized. Figment was rubbing his shoulder, wincing. "We were tied up to a tree by some weird rope that was so strong, nothing we could do could break it!" he continued, having been the speaker from before. "It really chafed!"

"Then our little invisible friend came and freed us from them, somehow," Elliott said. He smiled and raced over to Maru. "You're okaaayyy!!" he cried, arms open.

Maru sweatdropped and took a step back. "!" He turned and tried to run, but was to late--he got hugged from behind by the big dragon.

Figment stepped in front of the Keyblader and put his fists to his hips, tapping a footpaw while giving him a stern look. "We've been looking all over for you!" he said. "You ran off last night, and we were scared you'd somehow run away from us for good! Were you mad at us or something?" he asked.

Maru stopped struggling, Elliott still hugging him. He looked sorry, bowing his head. "I'm sorry...I just wanted to find Stitch, that's all," he said. "I fell asleep on the path between our campsite and the clearing."

Figment raised his eyebrows. "Wow, sounds like you got a good night's sleep!" he said, chuckling. "You never put bug spray on last night!"

Maru grimaced. "I know...Thankfully, the save disc cures those," he said. He looked up at Elliott, raising an eyebrow. "Er, you can let me go, now; I'm not gonna run off again," he told him. "You're not very comfortable with that armor you've got on."

Elliott let out an "OH!" and let Maru go. He blushed and grinned sheepishly, paws behind his back as he chuckled nervously.

Maru sighed and shook his head. "Look, we need to look for Stitch," he said.

"OH!" Figment said this time. "Maru!" Maru turned and found the purple dragon holding a large yellow orb. "We found this when we were captured! It's a Drive Recovery item," he told him. "It's like those yellow Drive orbs that sometimes come from Heartless like HP and Munny orbs."

Maru took it and nodded. "Thanks, I'll keep it with me in case I need it," he said. "I gathered it's a use-when-you-need-it item since it didn't fly into me when I got near it," he chuckled in explaination. He nodded and motioned for them to follow. "Well, let's look for Stitch!" The group nodded and followed him as he ran off to the campsite. "He must be in the jungle somewhere..." he muttered. "Maybe he landed near the house..."

(He saved the first thing when he got there, though. He needed it.)

*****RECEIVED Gift Drive Recovery*****

- - -

Lilo slowed to a walk and looked back where she had come. Then, she heard a rustling and looked. It was Stitch. "Stitch..." she said. Stitch walked out, holding the photo. He looked at it, then gave it to Lilo. She took it from him quickly and looked down at it. Then, she narrowed her eyes and looked up at him slowly, saying, "You ruined everything," with amazing menace.

Stitch looked a bit taken aback, then he thought for a moment about what to do. Then, slowly, he regrew the parts that made him an alien: His extra set of arms, his spines, and his antennae.

Lilo gasped slowly at this. "You're one of them??" she asked in wonder. She narrowed her eyes again and pushed HIM this time. Stitch grunted in surprise. "Go away," she said to him darkly. "And don't come back."

They stood, looking at each other for a moment before Stitch heard a rustling. He looked to his left and gasped as a HUGE figure loomed over, aiming a gun at him. Suddenly, a huge net shot out and got them both.

"HAH!" boomed the alien. He had the skin coloration of a dolphin, blue, pupilless eyes, and had what appeared to be ramlike horns, but they were covered with skin. He wore a black and red suit that looked spacey. He pumped his arm in victory. "Got you!"

His size somehow didn't give his position away to Lilo and Stitch, but it did to Maru and company. In this case, it was how loud his voice was because of it that tipped them off. Maru, who was busy looking around the campsite, heard the words and snapped to attention. "Stitch!" He raced down the path.

The huge Capt. Gantu stepped over the trees towards them, stomping quite loudly and shaking the ground. He reached down and took the bag that the net had become. "This was too easy!" he said, and turned to walk back to his ship. He tossed the bag up and down in his hand as he went along.

Nani was in the jungle, looking for Lilo. She was on the path that Maru and the others went along. "Lilo?" she called, looking around, then looked up and screamed as a HUGE foot came over her, falling backwards to the ground to avoid it.

"WOO-gah! I didn't know elephants got that big in Hawaii!" Figment joked, and Nani glanced over as Maru and the others ran down the path to the clearing.

"Maru!!" Nani called. "What's going on?! Where's Lilo?!"

Maru shrugged, running over to the clearing. He looked up at Gantu's net, but couldn't see well.

"Now, then, you and I are going to take a little ride," he said, sounding a little evil, as he emptied the contents of the net into a pill-shaped glass container, onto which he screwed a top. He put the container on the back of a big, dark-colored ship with twin antennas and a pair of the coolest jet engines I've ever seen, with strips sticking out and a black-and-yellow paintjob on key spots around the turbines, everything giving the ship the look of some sort of oversized bug. Gantu looked at what he'd captured as well. "And loook! I even caught you a little _snaaaack_!" He pressed his face right close to the capsule, making Lilo gasp and rear back. Gantu laughed and moved around to the front of the ship.

Nani and Maru looked up at the capsule and gasped. "SLTIILTOC!H!"

(Figment raised an eyeridge at the way I put this, grabbed the words, copied them, and rearranged them while clarifying as follows: "Maru and Nani cried different things at the same time; Maru said Stitch's name while Nani said her sister's." I sighed, muttering something about how we're not making people think anymore and have a little fun before continuing.)

Lilo and Stitch fought to escape while the engines whined, starting up slowly. Lilo tried to break the glass, but Stitch found a slight opening between the capsule and the cover that he managed to cartoonishly squeeze himself through. Whatever Jamba had done in making him to let him do that was a secret Maru wasn't sure he wanted to know. Stitch had gotten all the way out when he realized that Lilo was still inside and was looking at her while she looked at him when the ship took off, throwing him, roaring/screaming, down to the ground. He landed and looked up at Lilo as she shrank off. He held out to her with an arm, but sighed and turned around to sulk off. Suddenly, he was whacked by something, sending him skidding into the ground.

Nani stood, a branch in her hands and a vicious look on her face. Maru sweatdropped as he stood by her, looking at this. 'Remind me not to tick her off,' he thought. "Where's Lilo?!" demanded Nani. She whacked Stitch again. "TALK! I know you can!" She looked at him with an angry sneer.

Stitch sighed, shaking his head while he sat, back to her. He looked over his shoulder, eyes wincing a bit, before he stood and waved all his arms and hands. "O-kay, O-kay," he started to say, giving up, but Nani, scared that he could actually speak, shriked and whacked him again. She hit him so hard, he made a bit of a furrow in the ground.

Nani put the branch down and crouched down to Stitch. "Where's Lilo?" she asked again, a bit calmer this time.

Stitch sighed as he sat up. He looked up and began, "Lilo--"

PWING!! With a cry of pain and surprise, Stitch was sent flying from a plasma cannon shot from behind.

"A-HAAH!" Jamba cried triumphantly as he raced forwards, grabbed Stitch, and let Pleakley cuff his four arms together. "FINALLY!!"

Pleakley told Stitch, "You're under arrest by order of the Galactic Federatin!" He stood up and said to Jamba, "Read him his rights," before turning and getting out a cell phone-like device.

"Oh, I've been WAITING for this!" Jamba said before he began beating Stitch up and against things, the poor guy squeaking each time he hit something.

"The experiment is in custody," Pleakley said smugly into the phone. "We'll be waiting right here." He shoved the antenna back into the red device and put it in his pocket before he turned to find a scared, wondering Nani and an anger-veining, struggling-against-Elliott's-grip Maru. He gasped and got Jamba's attention. After he stopped torturing the incredibly durable Stitch, Jamba looked up as Pleakley pointed to Nani and said, "Just ignore her."

The two then turned around, backs to the human female. She came over and asked again anyway, "Where's Lilo?"

Jamba turned and asked, "Who?" before getting slapped in the arm by Pleakley. "What?" he asked, rubbing his arm and looking at his partner.

"Where's Lilo?" repeated Nani for the umpteenth time, slowly.

The aliens looked at each other, motioning and gesturing. "I'm...sorry," Jamba said slowly. "We don't know this...Li--"

Finally, Nani snapped. "LILO!! She's about this tall, has long black hair, and hangs around that THING!!" she described, holding her hands out to size up, grabbing her hair, and then pointing at Stitch, who was held in Jamba's hands.

"She's also great for a human shield!" added Figment, who got punted clear across the clear area in the little natural hallway in front of the clearing that they were in by Elliott and Maru together.

"If you're gonna joke about something, do it tastefully!" said the two together.

The two aliens blinked a bit at the amazing flying Figment before they looked at Nani sadly. "Yeah," said Jamba softly, "we know her."

"Where is she?" asked Nani, close to breaking down.

"I'm sorry," said Jamba after he put a hand on the back of the neck that did, in fact, exist on him. He held up Stitch. "...but we're only here for him."

Pleakley came over and pointed to an open rulebook and said section this, paragraph that states that interaction with humans is strictly prohibited. He paused before coming over and trying to give a little light to the situation, and faring no better than Figment. "Well, look at it this way," he said. "At least you won't have to yell at anyone anymore..." He laughed nervously as he stepped away again.

Nani looked at them before finally breaking down and crying. Figment, hoping to reconcile for his bad comment before, came over and patted her on the shoulder, a sympathetic look on his face.

Stitch looked at this, wondering what he could do. Then, he said, "Ohana."

"What?" Nani looked up at him.

"Come on," Jamba said, tugging Stitch along.

"NO! Wait!" Nani said, getting up and grabbing Stitch. "What did you just say?" she asked him, pulling him down to the ground in front of her.

"Ohana means family," Stitch said slowly. "Family means nobody--"

"--nobody gets left behind," Nani softly said along with him and interrupting, a look of amazement somewhat on her face.

"Or forgotten," Stitch finished. He nodded and looked down with a sad face. "Yeah..."

Maru thought furiously, wondering what could be done. He shook his head. "There's got to be SOMEthing we could do," he muttered, crossing his arms. "I'm not getting back on our ship until this is all resolved..."

Stitch turned to look at his captor. "Jamba!" he barked. Jamba turned him to face him. He said something in alienese that made Jamba roar,

"WHAAAAAAT?! You want us to help you after all you've put us through, just like THAT? JUUUST like THAAAT?!" He held Stitch really close to his face, glaring at him.

"Iich," Stitch nodded.

Without changing his expression, Jamba said, "Fine." He dug around for a key and unlocked Stitch's cuffs.

Pleakley yelped and came over. "WHAT?! And you're just going to let him go?" he asked incredulously.

"He's a _very_ persuasive," Jamba said, holding Stitch and motioning to him.

"REALly," Pleakley said, crossing his arms. "And what EXACTLY are we doing, here?"

"A rescue," answerd Jamba, smiling and pumping a fist.

"Are we going to save Lilo?" asked Nani hopefully.

"Iich!" Stitch said again, smiling and bouncing his head while Jamba held his body in his hand.

"May we come?" asked Maru.

"Iich!"

*****Stitch: LEARNED "Ohana!" Limit*****

- - -

After that point, Stitch was a temporary party member again and would remain so for the rest of Maru's stay in the Hawaiian Islands. He also fought alongside Maru in full alien form. He was still relentless in combat, slashing and bouncing and throwing, but instead of beastlike growls and other noises while he fought, he often made more lighthearted sounds, reflecting his mischievous nature and how he had, as Maru mused, 'begun to go his own way, separate from that of his original reason for creation.' He looked down and smiled a little. 'Sort of like me...but I think he's found his purpose in life.' He smirked at Stitch as the two landed from aerial combos before continuing their fight. They fought alone because Figment and Elliott claimed they were still sore from their bindings.

The two had opportunities to fight while they made their way to town. Jamba said he had an idea that would help them get going faster. They avoided the ruins of Nani's house (because she feared Mr. Bubbles would see her and the aliens and freak out or something) and went through the jungle. They reached town after passing by the animal shelter. Jamba smiled and rubbed his big hands. "And now, I get to work!" he said evily before sneaking off. The others looked at each other uneasily.

Later on, a motorcycle carried Jamba, Pleakley, Stitch, and Nani down the road.

Pleakley did not approve of the situation. "Oh, sure," he said sarcastically, "I'll just add stealing, disobeying orders, and INSANITY to the list of things I've done today!" He glared at Jamba.

"What, you too?" asked Jamba, who laughed. Pleakley shook his head, giving up.

Elliott glared at him. Maru translated, "Why are YOU complaining?! At least YOU'RE able to fit on a motorcycle!!"

Pleakley looked at him and frowned a bit. "But at least YOU'RE not breaking any rules," he muttered.

"You're on the wrong side of the road, though," Maru pointed out.

Elliott was running alongside the motorcycle as fast as he could, carrying Maru and Figment on his shoulders and panting like mad. He glared at the Keyblader at the comment. "NOT...NOW..."

Maru frowned and sweatdropped. "Alright, maybe that wasn't the greatest comment," he muttered, and he apologized.

After a time, Stitch was jumping up and down in joy as Jamba and Pleakley, with help from Maru (Elliott was lying on his back, wheezing and wondering if he'd burst a lung), cleared leaves away from something that revealed itself to be red. "What, you think we walked here?" asked Jamba, looking at the little guy and producing a set of keys. He pressed a button on a fob and the red object, apparantly his ship, emitted the chirps of a car being unlocked from a distance.

Maru blinked at the sound. "I suppose that's a truly universal alarm," he muttered. He then realized something. "Wait...How come you guys can all speak English, even though you're aliens from outside Earth?" he asked Jamba and Pleakley.

They sighed and shook their heads. "Later," they said in unison.

"Yeah, since we've got company," Nani squeaked, pressing herself against the ship.

Maru had already drawn his Keyblade. "So I see," he muttered as Heartless appeared in front of him. He looked to Elliott, who looked very pained at this. "You rest. Me and Stitch can handle this," he told him. He looked back at the other aliens. "You guys and Figment look after Nani and continue unburying the ship, or if you want to get going now, get it fired up. We'll clear the runway."

The Heartless weren't that hard to fight off at all, though, even with Elliott out of commission. Within moments, they had disappeared. Maru had discovered a new chance to do with the vine-like enemies that Navi ended up titling Crutching Ivys. (The name, she explained, was created by purposefully using Engrish and ending up with another word. They grabbed people, so they clutched them. "L" becomes "R" in Engrish, so now, since they disabled your legs, they made you either fix the problem or get crutches. She was quite glad with her titling.)

When one of them grabbed him, he of course slashed the vines away as a chance, but the new one came whenever he dodged the vines when they attempted to get him. He grabbed the vines and swung the Heartless around, slamming it into other enemies while he spun it in a circle, damaging both the Crutching Ivy and the Heartless it hit, before slamming it down onto the ground, hurting it more, and yanking it towards him. The yank didn't do much, but he was able to get in a good combo on it afterwards. They were fairly hardy, however, and didn't fall after the whole thing--chance and combo--was executed stright from the start before it had a chance to get hurt more. It took another Vine Whiplash, as Maru called the chance, to defeat it. (In the theoretical game, if its HP falls under 0 while in the middle of the attack, it goes away after Maru yanks it, the sort of "cloud" or whatever still in transit and being gone entirely right when it reaches the spot it would have landed in normally.)

After that, the party, with a rested-up Elliott, clambered onto the HUGE bright red ship, which had been warmed up for quite some time. On board, while Jamba started to take off, they discussed the plan.

"We fly over stupidhead's ship," explained Stitch, using some broken English slowly so that the non-aliens could understand, "and I jump out, break glass, free Lilo."

"What should we do?" asked Maru, pointing to himself and his comrades.

Stitch thought for a second. "Backup," he said, pointing at Maru. "But just you--you too small, you too big," he reasoned, pointing first at Figment and then at Elliott.

The dragons frowned at this, but they agreed that the fewer people that get in danger's way on this mission, the better.

Maru thought for a moment. "I can fly using my recently-aquired Drive form, the Mis Form," he stated. "That might help a bit. Should I enter it before leaving the ship?"

Stitch shrugged. "If you want," he said. "Just be sure you can land when it run out!" He laughed.

"Right. I'll provide backup. So, how will we be going out?" Maru asked. "The only way I can imagine doing so is opening the door in midair, hope everyone's fastened their seatbelts, and hop out at the right time."

Stitch nodded. "That what I thinking," he said. He grinned excitedly. "It gonna be FUN!!"

Maru sweatdropped a bit. "Skydiving towards a large hard object in midair that could scoot away and make us fall to our deaths," he described. "Fun, indeed."

Nani chuckled somewhat mirthlessly. "If Stitch can get run over by a truck and live, I don't think he's in any danger," she said.

Maru made that freaked-out-blue-forehead expression. "Y-You got hit by a TRUCK?!" he asked Stitch.

"A bunch!" he added proudly, putting his lower paws on his hips and crossing his upper arms.

Maru put a hand to his forehead, shaking his head. "My life is never boring, these days," he muttered, "what with meeting people like you..."

Figment and Elliott laughed at this.

- - -

Lilo sat, lonliness obvious in her body, and looked at the picture of her family while high above the clouds in her glass prison. She sighed sadly and dropped her head to her chest. After a moment of emotions in her head, she opened her eyes and looked up to find, to her surprise, what appeared to be a great, red shark's fin rising from the clouds. It rolled and revealed itself to be the biggest ship she'd ever seen in her life. "Wooooaaahh..." she gasped, pressing her hands to the glass to look at it. It got closer and she could see who was in the cockpit. She gasped and smiled. "STIIITCH!" she cried happily, bouncing a bit. "MARUUU!!"

Stitch jumped and waved back. Maru smirked and nodded at her. Then the ship pulled on ahead, its first objective--restoring the light of hope in Lilo's heart--completed.

"Connect me to the Head Councilwoman," instructed Gantu into an intercom like a trucker into his two-way radio.

A moment later, an oldish woman's voice said, "Capt. Gantu? What is it?" She sounded impatient.

Gantu smirked as he began to say, "I'm proud to announce that I've got the little abomination..." before trailing off as he looked out his window at the sound of a novelty car horn. "...right...uuuuuh..."

Stitch taunted Gantu through the glass of his ship, standing on his head and wiggling his butt with a grin.

Gantu widened his eyes and exclaimed, "WHAT?!" before grunting and being thrown to the side and out of his chair by a ramming.

"Capt. Gantu? What's happening? What's the status of the experiment?" the Head Councilwoman's voice demanded testilly.

Gantu growled, "I'll call you back," into the intercom as he got back into his chair. He put it away and glared at the other ship.

Meanwhile, Nani, sitting in the passenger-side seat, wasn't so sure about all of this. "Are you sure this is going to work?" she asked Jamba, raising an eyebrow.

"Don't worry," the large alien said, Stitch looking at a lever curiously. He turned and pounded his chest proudly. "We are professionals!" He heard a snap and looked to his side to Stitch. "HEY! Get that out of your mouth!" he scolded him as an owner would to a dog, picking up the lever (and the experiment with him) and trying to shake him loose.

Nani sighed and put her face in her hand. "Trust me, it could be worse," Maru told her, shaking his head. 'We could be stuck with Spongebob Squarepants...' He shuddered at the thought. If the annoyingness didn't doom them, the stupidity would. (Not trying to anger any Spongebob fans out there, but him and Maru would NOT mix well at all.)

Pleakley was trying to talk to someone on the phone in a seat when he yelled loudly and jumped back. An energy shot had just fired through the roof down almost where he was sitting. Gantu growled from his cockpit, though nobody could hear him, "How did you ESCAPE?!"

A chase began around the Hawaiian archipeligo. (If this were a game, this would actually be playable and done much like a Gummi Ship stage.) At one point, Jamba tilted the ship sideways so that it could make it through a skinny passage bordered by sharply-rising mountains. Gantu didn't make it and slammed into the side of the mountain, bouncing off and stunned for a moment before boosting his ship off. It all looked so fluid and organic, you really WOULD think he was actually a gigantic bug. After Jamba had managed to (accidentially, of course) TOTALLY _deny_ a certain fat tourist his mint chocolate chip ice cream by knocking it RIGHT out of his hand with a wingtip, he pulled up and escaped the corridor when it ended.

At last, though, Jamba's ship managed to knock into Gantu's, effectively knocking it off-balance and stunning it. Jamba looked to Stitch and Maru. "Get ready!" he shouted, and tilted the ship again, pulling up.

Everyone DID wear their seatbelts, but Figment was being held by Elliott for when he returned from the Drive's finish. Maru had filled his Drive gauge up enough that he didn't need the Drive Recovery item he'd been given. Stitch and Maru were unbuckled, and they stayed stuck to the floor by claws and telekinesis, respectively. They ran to the door and waited.

Things were tense. It was the moment of truth. 'We've got to do this,' Maru thought, clenching his fists. 'Please, let us do this...'

After what seemed an eternity, Jamba said, "NOW!"

Instantly, Maru called to Figment, "LEND ME YOUR STRENGTH!!" He had finished transforming into his newest form right when Stitch opened the door.

"GO! GO!! _GOOOO!!_" he cried, opening as the third "go" was said. Together, he and Mewtwo were sucked out, falling down towards the ship. They didn't fall far when Stitch hit Gantu's windshield, making the pilot shout in anger. Mewtwo slowed down before he crashed through the glass painfully (seeing as he was close to three hundred pounds of badass) and made Gantu raised his eyebrows at him.

"What the--" he began, but he growled and gripped his steering wheel tighter. "You're with that THING!" he realized.

''Excellent observation, my dear Watson,'' Mewtwo sent back, flying in front of the ship so that he was hovering in relation to it. He looked to Stitch, who had already started to crawl off to the back. 'Good. Free Lilo,' he thought. He looked back at Gantu. 'I'll keep tall, dark, and ugly here occupied.' He aimed his Keyblade threateningly.

Gantu growled and put his thumbs on the triggers. "Out of the way!" he shouted and began to fire.

Mewtwo had to dodge the shots while he launched his own offensive. He noticed something when his shots and move-spells struck: A light blue sheet of energy spread from the point of contact, and when it all faded, no harm had been done to the ship. 'It must be a shielding system,' he decided. 'I'll just keep firing, though...' He dodged the shots with ease, detecting them and moving by using a chance, while keeping up a constant barrage of attacks.

A half minute into the operation, Gantu heard an alarm beeping. He glanced at a vid screen and gritted his teeth. "Oh, no, you don't, you vermin!" he grumbled, and he pressed a button on the console.

To Mewtwo's horror, he saw the dual engines swivel together and heard a sizzling sound. "STITCH!!" he cried, stopping and looking over to see if he was alright, about to bolt and save him. Suddenly, he cried in pain as he was struck by a massive shot of energy. He'd been distracted from his distracting and had gotten hit, himself, before he could raise his own shield system. He sailed back, away from the ship from the front before he began to move at a slower speed than it and it pulled ahead, almost hitting him. The wind it made blew him farther from Stitch, who suddenly sprung off of the back of the ship from the jets scorching him from both sides.

Mewtwo, burned a bit, creaked an eye open and saw he was getting farther from Stitch. "N...No...Stitch...!" He stopped his uncontrolled movement and flew over to the short, smoking form crying as he fell. He barely caught up with him in time to grab him and brace himself before they hit. They landed down on the peak of one mountain, bounced all the way to another, and finally bounced to a skidding stop on the road below. Stitch merely smoldered and fainted, but Mewtwo was bleeding pretty badly and knew he'd broken a bone or five. 'D-Damn! I'm going to have to try and channel the remaining power I have in the Drive to make Cure heal me enough...' He had an entire two full bars left, too, since he hadn't been attacking that very long, and was angry that he'd have to almost waste it this way.

He focused on his body and the power within it. He kept one mental eye on it and another on the power of the Keyblade (which had been knocked out of his paw on the first bounce, but it had stayed close to him and was currently hovering, spinning, over his right paw). He brought the two together as fast as he could, and, two seconds later, the Keyblade spun faster briefly as Mewtwo skipped a couple levels in the magic with the extra juice he supplied and cast Curaga. As he had prayed, it healed his whole body with outstanding results, mending his bones and wounds perfectly and painlessly. But, as he had predicted, it drained the extra power Figment supplied, sending the dragon's essence back to the ship. Unexpectedly, though, he was also left a bit lightheaded, causing him to black out for a moment as well.

Back up on Jamba's ship, Nani looked out of a window in horror and worry down below. "What can we do now?" she asked Jamba, glancing over at him.

Jamba, standing by the window as well, started to walk away shrugging. "We wait, hope for a miracle," he said. He looked grimly accepting at her as he returned to his seat. "It's all we can do."

Nani watched him for a moment before turning back to the window. "Lilo..." she whispered.

Figment suddenly reappeared in Elliott's lap. He blinked for a moment. "I'm never going to get used to that," he muttered, shaking his head.

Elliott knit his brow. "How's Maru? Is he alright?" he asked, forgetting Figment couldn't understand him.

Figment held his paws up and shook his head, looking sorry. "If you're asking if Maru's alright, I'm sorry, but I couldn't tell ya," he replied, however, having had an idea what Elliott had asked.

Elliott sat back again, frowning in worry. "Lilo...now Stitch and Maru..." he muttered. "Who's next on my list of people to worry about?"

Gantu, meanwhile, wasn't finished yet. "Locate Experiment 626," he ordered his computer.

"Experiment 626 located," the computer quickly responded, showing a map of Hawaii with a point where Stitch was laying.

"Alright, then, it's time we finish this," Gantu grumbled, flying over to the place he was.

A frog hopped across the road and noticed a ship coming. Hopping over by Stitch, who was lying with Maru's left arm on his back from when they had fallen, he ribbited loudly while still looking up. He waited, got no response, and hopped right on top of the back of Stitch's facedown head and tried again.

Stitch groaned, slowly looking up. He saw Gantu's ship diving and the shot being charged.

Gantu sneered. "Hold still," he muttered, aiming.

Stitch gasped as he finally woke up fully. Thinking fast, he grabbed Maru and the frog and rolled to the side. He succeded in dodging the shot and the ship pulled up. Gantu shouted in annoyance that he'd missed. Maru, having been shaken awake by the roll, got up off the ground. "What the--!!" he began to mutter when he saw the burnmark in the ground where he had been. He raised his eyebrows, realizing his life was just saved. He looked down at Stitch, who let go of his shirt. "I owe you my life," he said to him in a bit of surprise. Stitch raised his eyebrows and blushed a little.

As his ship went up, though, Lilo was seen in her capsule. "STIIIITCH!!" she cried. Stitch and Maru looked up. She was pressing up against the wall of the container. "Don't leave me, okay??" she asked him before she was taken out of sight.

"Okay..." Stitch said, nodding as he looked with emotion in his eyes up at her.

Maru couldn't help but feel some of the emotion himself. 'He really DOES want to be back with her, not just because he feels sorry for Nani,' he realized, giving an eyebrow-knit small smile.

A vehicle was heard coming. The two turned and saw a truck carrying a full load of gasoline coming. Maru stood up to the side of the road, but Stitch just set down the frog to his side before getting into a braced, ready pose. "Okay," he said again as he did this, a resolute tone in his voice and look on his face. Maru widended his eyes as Stitch first ducked down underneath the bottom of the 16-wheeler before rising at the other side and grabbing the rear bumper. He dug his feet in and pulled. The truck jerked its driver forwards a little because of Stitch's strength. Then, the truck hit the brakes and slowed to a halt. When it was stopped, the driver opened his door and Stitch let go of the bumper.

Maru ran over. "What on Earth is he doing?" he wondered aloud.

"Huh?" The driver, coming down the side of the truck, stopped as he saw a short, blue, furry, six-armed thing running at him. He widened his eyes and took a step back. "What the--?!" he began before Stitch pushed him aside, grabbing his keys from his hand.

"I need this," he said as he went on to the driver's seat, slamming the door shut. After starting the truck, he leaned his head out of the window and beckoned for Maru. "HURRY!" he called.

Maru stared at him for a moment before shaking his head and running to him. "Something else," he muttered as he went. "Sorry," he added to the confused driver as he passed him. "Getting truck-jacked because a life needs to be saved is probably covered in your insurance, though." He faced forward again and spurted his speed to get to the passenger side. As soon as he was in, the two started off. Pretty sure he would die if he didn't, Maru hastilly fastened his seatbelt. "Why do I have the feeling that whatever you're going to do will involve nearly getting me killed, anyway?" he asked his driver.

Stitch just laughed as he, having set the gas pedal down permanently, guided the truck along the dangerous mountainside road. Maru was not sure Stitch knew how to handle the kinds of roads the pokémon was used to seeing back home in Japan--roads best handled with one foot on the gas, the other right over the brakes, at ALL times. Nevertheless, they survived as Stitch, heading off-road after a bit, made his way to Volcano National Park, blazing right past a tourist who was standing, smiling, in front of a sign, ready to get his picture taken.

Maru was clutching onto anything gripable for his life during the entire ride, hoping he wouldn't have to use telekinesis to save them from certain death; he didn't want to have to face another mega-headache like he had when he had restored Quasimodo's figurine back in Notre Dame. Besides, he was running low on his bottle of Full Heal and wanted to keep it for a time when he would need it, seriously, or they were all screwed forever. (He also hoped this time never came, of course.) He tried his best to trust Stitch, though, for the whole time. When they went right towards the center of an active volcano, however, he wasn't so sure anymore. "Uuuuuh," he said, holding tight while the rocky terrain below pitched the cab of the truck like a bucking bronco, "you know you're heading for molten lava, right?"

Stitch nodded, though it was barely discernable.

Maru and Navi, who had flown out due to the bouncing around (surprised that Maru's cloak was keeping hold of his items), squacked, "ARE YOU NUTS?!" just before the truck hit a jump and sailed out into the airspace above the center of the volcano.

They landed in the lava and began to slowly sink in. Stitch said, "Hurry!" and zipped out of the cab through the window before it was submerged entirely.

Maru, with Navi in his collar to hide, had to unbuckle first. This cost him just barely too much time. He saw the bottom of the door begin to glow red and felt the heat around him. "Oh, for the love of--" he began before he pushed hard. A Barrier spread across the surface of his body, encasing him in a Maru-shaped bubble and protecting both him and Navi. He made a quick prayer and kicked the door open. The lava flowed in and he darted out, starting to swim through the lava.

Suddenly, he felt something very strong. He looked down and saw a white light in the middle of the bright red around him that didn't look like it was from the lava. He looked quizically at it before turning and swimming up as fast as he could. He broke free of the lava and was able to get on top of the roof of the cab and out of danger, then jumped up to the top of the tanker, releasing his Barrier as he did. As he scrambled up to Stitch, he seethed, "YOU ARE _SO_ LUCKY I CAN'T DO ANYTHING TO YOU RIGHT NOW!!"

Stitch squeaked and raised his eyebrows in surprise. "Oh, no! So sorry! So sorry!" he said, face an honest look of sorriness.

Maru was glaring, eyes aglow, but sighed and settled. "Fine...Now what?" he asked, and Stitch pointed. The pokémon turned and saw Gantu's ship. He raised his eyebrows. "He must have been tracking us!" he muttered. "But what are you going to--" He was stopped when Stitch yanked him down into a sit. He looked at him and wondered what crazy idea he had next. 'He's got to get to Gantu...but how? He's so high...up...' He widened his eyes and looked down slowly at the metal beneath him. "This gasoline is under a lot of pressure, isn't it?" he muttered quietly.

Stitch was laying on the slowly-sinking tanker, paws on his middle as he looked with contempt up at Gantu as he came, pointed towards him and about to fire again.

Gantu glared back. "Abomination," he muttered.

Stitch replied, though he couldn't hear, "Stupid-head," and grabbed the side of the tanker with one claw, tore up a flap of metal, and let a spout of gas shoot to the lava. The heat of the molten rock ignited the petroleum product on contact, the flame shooting up the stream and into the tanker.

Maru gulped and raised his Barrier again quickly. "You forget I'm not invincible like you," he pointed out to his partner before the gas tanker exploded. The two were sent up high and fast.

"YEEEEEEE-HAH!!" Stitch cried as he shot up, trailing smoke and fire and holding a fist out like Superman. He flew with a very sure velocity.

Maru, however, wasn't as lucky to be so small and yet dense. He flew up a bit, but he soon found Stitch flying away from him. "NO!!" he cried as he slowed, releasing the Barrier. Suddenly, he felt the same feeling as he had when he was underlava. He recognized the feeling and, astounded, turned while summoning the Keyblade. "No way," he muttered, flying backwards.

Below him, the white light had spread and the whole pit was glowing. Then, a HUGE Keyhole opened up in the center of it while the light faded away again. It seemed to go on forever, down into the core of the Earth. Maru was gaping. "THE KEYHOLE'S IN A VOLCANO?!" He blinked at this for a moment. Then, after he realized he had reached the apex of the skyward boost, he narrowed his eyes and nodded dutily.

He spun around once before aiming the Keyblade down. A light began to glow around the bit for a second before it shot out in a beam towards the Keyhole below. It entered the center and continued down. Then, after a second, during which Maru wondered if this time, he was going to die before the Keyblade had sealed the Keyhole, a massive CLICK was heard. Light poured out of the Keyhole before the lava fell back in. There was still a beam of light connected to it and Maru's Keyblade, though. In fact, much like how he had stopped flying into the world-sucking orb of darkness in Mach Paradise, the beam saved him from falling.

As soon as the Keyhole had been hidden from view once more, Maru suddenly slowed down in his descent. He began to be pulled towards the center of the volcano, which was starting to rumble. He hoped that there was a method to this madness, and was about to summon another Barrier before he saw a circle of rock form around the center of the beam, steaming fresh. He sighed in relief as he reached it, gently setting down to it. His Keyblade didn't go down so gentle, though, and slammed straight down into the center. Maru couldn't let go.

The Keyblader then noticed the pit was glowing again, but because of his Keyblade, this time, not the Keyhole. He looked down at Feild-G in amazement. "I can feel the power of the eruption being channeled into the Keyblade," he muttered. He looked up and saw Gantu's ship flying off. He narrowed his eyes and nodded with a smirk. "I think I'm about to top Stitch," he said, placing both hands on the Keyblade's hilt and sitting up. "HERE I COME!!" he cried, and pulled up.

He took the eruption with him. A pillar of fire exploded from the volcano directly underneath him, shooting him and his platform up high into the air at an extremely high speed, angling towards the ships for some reason. Maru was thrown to his back onto the platform for a moment before, with a struggle against physics, he sat up, Keyblade acting as a crutch to help him up. He looked up, wind hurting his eyes before he put a Barrier around each one.

He saw, all of a sudden, Gantu fly out of his own ship. The behemoth fell out and barely caught himself on Jamba's ship, which had caught up to them. He growled as he hung on and fired at Stitch as the blue creature crawled around the empty ship to get Lilo. Maru narrowed his eyes at Jamba. 'Not now!!' he thought. 'I had to go through Stitch's driving skills, and I'm not letting it all be for nothing!' He didn't notice that Gantu had missed and hit an engine, which was now smoldering.

He noticed he was slowing down in his ascent. Standing up fully now that he had less and less force to fight against, he looked over at his left. "One...two..." The platform beneath him was getting red hot, too. He waited for the best moment, where he was shooting up to a red wing, before shouting, "THREE!!" and jumping. The platform burst as the lava burned through it where he was right after he had left it. Maru had overshot the wing, flying above it just as it came at him, so he jammed his Keyblade into the metal and hung on for his life.

Meanwhile, above, Stitch reached Lilo. Not wasting any time, he headbutted the weakened part in the glass, breaking it entirely. He reached out a hand for Lilo, who smiled and took it. "You came back for me," she said in amazement.

Stitch held her like a hero holding the main squeeze in a dramatic carrying moment. "Nobody gets left behind," he reminded her, smiling and shaking his head.

Lilo gave him a little smooch on the nose, causing him to blush and blink a bit in surprise. Then, he leapt down to the ship below while the ship he left behind tumbled off, rays of light glowing from it as it underwent an anime-style explosion. The smoke it made when it did blanketed the ship, making it look like it had flown into a huge cloud.

When it cleared, Gantu stood on top of the ship, standing and facing Maru and Stitch, all of them on the central part of the ship. Well, he was facing Maru--Stitch was busy tearing a strip of metal and enclosing it around Lilo so that she wouldn't fly away. The pilot, having seen the others on his monitors, slowed his ship down enough so that everyone could stay on top without getting blown away. Gantu growled, eyes narrowed at them, "This has gone on for long enough." Taking his gun, he aimed at them. "Nobody escapes me like that TWICE and gets away with it, and nobody gets in my way. It's time for you to pay! Abomination! Human! Any last words?"

Maru, using telekinesis to stick to the metal, nodded, glaring right back. "Yes," he replied. "If you're calling one of us an 'abomination', then call BOTH of us 'abominations'!!" Stitch scampered over by him. The two creations of science looked at each other and nodded. Then, with Stitch getting into a ready position and Maru lashing his Keyblade out as he got into stance, the two prepared to do battle.

The battle atop Jamba's ship, high up in the air, began after Lilo pumped her arm and cheered, "GO, STITCH, GO!!"

- - -

Oh, no, a SIX-parter?! HOLY...Yeah, this is an 80-minute movie and it's taking longer than Notre Dame. I'm not skipping enough details. Leave the movie stuff in the movie and just stick to the basics, FT. T.T


	23. 12: A Three Day Tour,,,

Gantu began by firing at the two. They dodged them, jumping aside and getting blown away by the wind a little before landing again. Maru knew he'd have to deal with this, but wondered if he could use it to his advantage. 'I think the laws of physics are with us all as long as we're riding on top of the ship,' he thought. 'When we ride it, it'll be difficult to keep our balance, but we'll be able to stay on. When we jump in the air, we're getting blown by the wind. The larger we are, the more of us gets hit so we can blow away...'

They also had a little bit of work cut out for them--the ship's central portion sloped down and back on top. Sure, they had a bit of a windshield, but they also had a bit of a tricky fight ahead of them on foot, even if they didn't need to jump at all. Two large, flat wings spread on either side, with a huge, round engine in the middle of each. So many smooth, round surfaces and danger, so little to keep them from falling away--three fins, one small one in the middle that didn't help much since it sloped down, and two large ones that stuck off the tail straight up that were even bigger than Gantu were all they could potentially use.

Gantu, after firing, stomped around the ship's roof slowly, which covered a lot of metal because of his stride's natural reach. He then proved he had more weapons in his arsenal than the basic plasma gun Maru had become familiar with in this world, and he used these when he found the situation appropriate. He launched seeker missiles, used a solution which briefly sent flames up that had to be moved around or jumped, scattered a group of explosive bombs at them, and even deployed a group of short-battery-life drones while he went to take potshots from a distance (which, given his size, he actually always had in a vertical sense). First thing he did, though, was use another weapon in his arsenel: Himself. He managed to get to the left wing of the ship, where he raised a great foot. "Upsy-daisy!" he said before stomping on the wing.

The whole ship pitched to the left, sending Maru and Stitch flying up quite high. Jamba immediately began rolling it back, which went slow due to Gantu weighing it down, but he didn't know about the two good guys in danger. They were flying off the ship fast. Fortunately, they managed to catch one of the large fins and keep on the vessel. They slid down quickly, Stitch digging his claws and Maru using telekinesis. They landed and scampered onto the main part of the ship as it leveled out again. Gantu snapped his fingers as he failed to send them away. He had gotten back out to the main body of the ship. He wanted to keep the fight with as much space as he could have, and thus tried to stay around the body.

Maru realized that they were at a disadvantage. "He's a ranged fighter," he said. "He's not going to let us get very close that easily. We have to do something, though." He clenched a fist. "If only we could jump with more ease...!" Regardless, the two advanced forwards up the slope, finding the body's shape didn't keep them from the wind that much, since the air blew along the roof's contour in its direction as the laws of physics said. Gantu shot at them more and kept moving around, using the sheer size of the ship to his advantage.

Maru noticed that he moved away whenever they got near him, going in a circle around the ship when he was cornered to an edge. "We might be able to use that to our advantage," he muttered. "It we could just...WAIT!!" He aimed with his palm and fired an Ember at him--only to find that it blew right away. The same occured for Ice Shard, which he wanted to modify someday, anyway, and he never got in range for Shock Wave. "Dammit! If only I had my Mis Form...and I don't have time to use my Drive Recovery!" he grumbled.

He then realized that he could use this to his advantage. He needed to get him to be downwind from them. So, they continued to press towards him, circling him around the ship. When he got to the other wing, he tried slamming them again. This time, though, Maru and Stitch stayed on. Stitch went to all sixes and Maru slammed his Keyblade into the ship and both held tight as they were rocked up. They noticed Gantu had to hold on after he stomped, since he was in danger of sliding off. Maru then noticed that he and Stitch were sliding down towards him. "Let's hurry to him while he's holding still!" Maru said to him, and both, now that they didn't need the extra grip to resist the launching force, started running down the sloped ship with their normal methods of attatchment.

They got a good distance covered before Gantu got his footing again. As soon as he did, he sent some of the fluid mentioned before at them via what looked like a plasma gun, but was filled with bluish gunk and fired like a squirt gun. Maru and Stitch quickly jumped over it, correcting their jumping this time so that they were blown back as little as possible, and jumped from a location where they wouldn't fly off the ship as they jumped over. They lost little distance due to their quick reactions and rolled again after Gantu was firing again. They continued to trick him to circle around, waiting until he was finally downwind.

Maru finally launched an Ember with success. It flew right at him and struck him in the face, making him flinch despite the fact it didn't look like it did much. Maru then felt a chance. He looked at Stitch and grinned mischeivously. "Get in a ball!" he told him.

Stitch did so. Maru then got behind him and kicked him like a soccer ball right at Gantu. He soared through the air and struck him right in the face. The force was so great, Gantu, yelling and flailing his arms, stumbled back and fell down. The force of his fall pitched the ship again, but Maru was already prepared, running at him with his Keyblade halfway jammed into the ship, causing sparks despite never truly tearing the metal of the ship. So, when he was sent upwards, his body merely jerked out as he hung on before quickly getting back, removing the Keyblade, and continuing to run at Gantu.

Gantu was down and was being assaulted by Stitch for a moment while he was temporarilly incapacitated, hanging on for dear life while the ship tried to correct itself. Maru reached his head and finally, with pleasure, took a few good combos at him, finding out that his air combo, probably from the Keyblade's magic being enhanced during aerial attacks, didn't blow him back while he was attacking. After a good few combos, the giant recovered and rose.

Gantu then quickly got upwind of them, stepping over them, and crouched down. "Chew on these!" he said, and scattered a handful of bombs. Orb-shaped and as big as Stitch in ball mode, hey bounced down at them, and they burst after contacting a target in an explosion of green plasma. Maru and Stitch had a time with them, since they were big and pretty hard to avoid the farther down the slope of the body of the ship they were. After a time, though, Maru realized he'd been feeling chances left and right. So, carefully, he struck the bombs back at Gantu, which sailed, ignoring the wind (Maru theorized the Keyblade was at work again), straight towards Gantu. They hit him, mostly, until he moved and kept moving.

After a while, Gantu reached a wing. He stomped it again, but let himself slide down to the end of it (preventing the ship from being able to do more than stay aloft at a sharp angle from his weight), where he stayed and, holding onto the edge of the engine stuck in there, took potshots at Maru and Stitch as they, having reacted successfully again and hung on, advanced towards him. Instead of normal plasma shots this time, he fired the seeker missiles. Each one was slow-moving, but they were each as big as a man and created a large, normal explosion when they made contact with their targets or a wall that had gotten in the way.

Maru knew that he couldn't hit them back, since he'd likely hit the tip and detonate them on himself, but Stitch had other plans. When one of them came at him, he rolled aside to the front of the ship and jumped onto the side. Since it was seeking something on it always, the missile was reduced to traveling in circles. In a couple of seconds, Stitch had finished his job, hotwiring the missile so that it went back to Gantu. Maru grinned at this. "Great job!" he complimented as Stitch jumped back to the ship. "I bet I might be able to do that, too..." He was busy dodging them or detonating them early with a Shock Wave.

He, indeed, felt a chance, and he did the same thing Stitch did. He was able to scan the programming directly, though, so he did and quickly found the part that kept data on the target to seek. He instantly told it to lock on to the target he indicated: Gantu. This ended up taking about as long as Stitch had, and he, too, jumped back to the ship (well, flew, since he was close enough it wasn't that bad on his head).

Gantu was struck briefly off-balance by the missiles, since he had to grip a round object. The third missile that hit him spurred him to change his plans before he fell off. He swung himself back up and crawled up to the wider part of the wing. His relocation back towards the ship's center of gravity allowed it to finally tip back upright. He then found himself facing Maru and Stitch, cornered on the wing. He had to get around them somehow. "Hmph!" He reached into his belt and grabbed a handful of something. "Play with something your own size!" he laughed as he set down his handful of drones.

These drones were really basically mannequins of metal with buzzsaws rotating around their wrists. They were about the size of Maru, and they were PLENTIFUL. Maru and Stitch had a time keeping them off, and soon found themselves surrounded.

"Dammit!" Maru cursed, backing up against Stitch. "I don't know how we're going to handle so many when they've got such high defense..." 'I've been spoiled with all the soft Heartless and Nobodies I've been fighting normally...'

Stitch gritted his teeth, growling at the metal beasts. He backed up another step and bumped into Maru's Keyblade, which he held down and back in his normal stance. He turned to look at it and looked up at its owner. "Maru!" he called. Maru looked down. "You! Me! Iich!" he said, grinning.

Maru raised an eyebrow at this. "What do you--" he began before he remembered Sherwood Forest. 'He wants to do a Limit...' He looked down at Stitch and asked, "Together?"

"Iich!"

Maru nodded. "Then let's do it!"

With a flash of light from the Keyblade, Maru and Stitch suddenly knew just about all of what to do next. Stitch jumped up onto Maru's shoulders, making the Keyblader wobble a bit as he put his left hand up to keep hold of Stitch's left leg with one hand while he held his Keyblade in the other. Then, from behind his back, Stitch somehow produced four plasma guns, one per paw. He cackled joyfully as he held the weapons...again? Maru didn't know, but he knew that Stitch was ready to use them to their fullest. "It's FUN tiiiime!" sang Stitch.

Maru smirked. "MY kind of fun, I hope," he said as he stomped down into stance, Stitch holding on tight enough with his legs that Maru was confident he wouldn't fall off of his shoulders. The stomp produced a shockwave of psychic energy that blew into everyone around them. The two then went onwards. Maru found that, not only were they unaffected by the wind for now, but he was also able to run three times as fast, reflecting the combination of their abilities for the Limit.

First, Stitch and Maru blasted enemies with their weapons. Stitch fired his guns at four different enemies and Maru floated and spun in a circle, firing a machine-gun rate stream of psychic bullets around. Then, they dashed out in opposite directions and plowed through a swath of enemies in half circles around each other before returning. Stitch tossed his guns up in the air before going and using a flurry of slashes, catching the guns when he returned to Maru's shoulders. Maru flew around, spinning around in a tight spinning flip and striking enemies all around before getting back to the center and catching Stitch on his shoulders. Together, they basically drew a pokéball's outline minus the circle in the center, where they began and ended, or maybe more like a very fat figure eight. Regardless, they alternated between these two attacks for a few times.

The final move of the Limit occured when the two fighters stood and looked around them, at each other (Maru looking up and Stitch looking down), and then at their weapons. With a nod, they both did something: Stitch tossed his guns away and Maru spun his around its length. Stitch laughed victoriously as he somehow pulled his ukelele out from behind him and hopped down to in front of Maru.

Maru drew the remaining enemies around them close with telekinesis before catching his Keyblade, holding it like a guitar. The teeth faced up, like the pegs on some guitar models. "And-a 1, and-a 2, and-a 1, 2, 3, 4!" he counted off (starting after Maru and Stitch had nodded) before the two of them started playing (Maru actually making sounds with his Keyblade). Again, Maru played chords while Stitch did the melody, the two jumping into a melody they had breifly begun to hear playing when they reached the finisher of their Limit (the music of whatever fight they're in the "game"; this means that the normal battle music for Hawaii would have to be the same tempo as all the other battle music heard after the Limit's been learned unless Square doesn't mind Maru counting off wrong). Somehow, the soundwaves from their playing were strong enough that they damaged the enemies with each beat they played. They played for four measures. When they finished, Stitch broke his ukelele on top of one enemy that came right towards them (the others had been blown away or blown up, in this case of the Limit) in the classic crazy rockstar guitar smash, shouting, "ALOHA!!" while Maru twirled his Keyblade around before bringing it to rest on his right shoulder. When both were done, Stitch hopped up and the two slapped hands (Maru using his left).

The Limit ended and found them without a single drone left. Lilo, who was still stuck to the ship by her improvized seat belt, clapped for them, having seen them since they had been fighting on her side of the ship. "That was AWESOME!" she complimented.

Gantu was less enthused. He gaped at them before sneering at them. "You annoying little pests!" he growled before continuing the battle.

The battle continued with Gantu essentially using the same tactics, Maru and Stitch responding in turn. Gantu stomped a wing; Maru and Stitch had to hold on to prevent flying off and risking whether they can catch one of the big fins in back again or not. Gantu circled around the perimeter of the ship's body, firing at them; the two rolled to dodge the shots and continued to charge at him. Gantu got to the top of the ramp that was the ship's top while Maru and Stitch were at the bottom and unleashed his bombs; Maru and Stitch dodged or struck them back at him. Gantu spread a line of flaming goo; the two jumped over it after correcting their starting position to avoid falling off. Gantu stomped a wing and slid to the tip before firing seeker missiles; Maru and Stitch held on before hopping on missiles and hotwiring them to go back towards Gantu. And, finally, Gantu ends up downwind to Maru and Stitch; Maru fires Ember at his head, hits, kicks Stitch the Soccer Ball at his face and begins to run while trailing his Keyblade inside the ship to catch him after Stitch hits, knocking Gantu down and pitching the ship up and making him scrabble to hold on as Maru and Stitch take the chance to deal some damage to him. Whenever close by to him, Gantu also stomped at them or kicked them before moving it away. Maru tried to take these chances to use Shock Wave, but he wasn't able to move into a good spot to kick Stitch from. As for the drones released when Gantu finds himself cornered, Maru found that he could also use a chance to hit one towards Stitch, who grabbed it and spun around, bashing any in range before launching it into another drone, effectively eliminating every drone around him and the drone thrown. They had to contend with the potshots I mentioned Gantu tried to take, dodging when needed and laughing if he ended up blowing up a couple drones.

Finally, though, after an age and a half, it felt like, Gantu was hit in the face with enough bombs, missiles, and attacks from the two that he was on his last legs. To his horror, though, he discovered himself downwind of the two and, a second later, a painful fireball in the face followed another second later by a powerful ball of blue fur knocking him back. In moments, he was enduring the Ohana! Limit aimed entirely at him. As he was struck for the final time with the finishing blow of the Limit (under a special case that is possible only in this story--he was rising and Stitch hopped up onto Maru, who threw him upwards and propelled him with telekinesis to reach Gantu's face so he could slam it with his ukelele), he reeled back and grunted, "UUHNN!! Y...You...ABOMINATIONS!!"

Gantu stumbled back, grabbing the two big fins. "N...NO! I won't...lose...to you!!" he seethed, trying to get to them.

"GET 'IM, STITCH!!" Lilo cheered from her little spot.

Gantu saw her and smiled evilly. "Of course," he muttered. He started to run towards her, shaking the ship as he stomped along.

Jamba and the other people inside groaned as the ship shook even more. "WOULD YOU STOP THAT?!" the pilot roared, shaking a fist at the ceiling.

Stitch gasped as he saw what was going on. "Lilo!" He zipped along, Maru in hot pursuit.

Lilo looked up and screamed as Gantu reached her and grabbed her out of the metal belt, starting to rise with her. Just then, Stitch and Maru appeared...and the ship entered a cloud.

When it cleared, Stitch was holding onto the back of the ship, Lilo holding onto him. Lilo smiled and said, "Good dog!" very satisfiedly. Trailing behind Stitch, behind held by the scruff of his shirt, was an unconcious Gantu. He also held Maru with another claw. The ship had picked up speed again since the fight was over, so they could only hold on as they went along.

- - -

In the middle of the ocean, David got up out of the water onto his surfboard. He made a face as he shook out water from his ears. He didn't notice the enormous ship that had decided to land behind him. Well, not until he was blown back by an unexpected wave. When he came up for air, he looked around to see what happened.

"DAVID!!" called Lilo.

David looked up and made his "OH-ee!" exclaimation. The ship had landed in the ocean, and everyone was standing on a wing. Well, Gantu, who appeared to have accepted his loss, was sitting down. "Can you give us a ride back to shore?" asked Lilo.

"Uuuuh..." David began, looking at all of them. Gantu looked up and sighed, dropping his head again, looking very defeated as the human looked at them all lined up on the wing like that. "Sure," he said, and he raised a hand out of the water and pointed towards shore. "But I'll have to make two trips," he warned, still looking amazed at all of this.

- - -

"So, you're from outer space," David said with a smile to Stitch, the last one back, as he came back into shore. The sun was setting and everything was bathed in orange. "I hear the surfing there's choice."

As soon as he had reached shore, however, Stitch was grabbed up by aliens that resembled small T-rexes, all of them wearing what appeared to be biohazard suits. They cuffed his four arms as they brought him to a tall alien woman who looked remarkably similar to a Mewtwo, having large feet and a big head. She had green skin and wore an official-looking coat on that reached to the ground. Other aliens like the ones that took Stitch formed a hallway to a spaceship that was landed on the sand and had a ramp set out on the ground going up into its insides. The others from Jamba's ship were there, as well, and looking on. Maru and the others were surprised when the aliens landed, but they were told nothing and did nothing, though Maru had the worst feeling he knew what was going to happen. Now, since he had seen his fears come true, he started to move and rescue Stitch. A black, black-suited arm stopped him. He looked up and saw Mr. Bubbles, who shook his head. Maru looked anxiously back at him, but stayed put.

"Experiment 626? You're under arrest by order of the Galactic Federation," said the tall alien. It was the Head Councilwoman that Gantu had been speaking to earlier that day. "You'll be coming with us, now."

"Actually," laughed Pleakley in that "you're so wrong" way, "credit for the capture--"

"--goes to me," the Head Councilwoman said. She glared at him. "I'll speak with you later." She turned to Gantu. "Capt. Gantu, you have failed in your mission. Your incompetence is aggrivating beyond description. You are hereby no longer a member of the Galactic Police."

Gantu widened his eyes and tried to argue back, but he was defeated easily by the word of the Head Councilwoman.

"I'll just be...going now," Jamba said slowly while he turned around to try and sneak off.

"And where do you think YOU'RE going?!" asked the Head Councilwoman, stopping him in his tracks. He looked guiltily back at her as she continued, "You're the CAUSE of all of this! You'd be lucky if you end up on a flub-drub farm after this." She turned a bit impatiently.

Stitch was brought to the ship. The Head Councilwoman walked over and stopped, turning to the others. "Now, I apologize for all of the trouble that 626 has caused--"

"Stitch," corrected Stitch.

"--you--Excuse me?" asked the Head Councilwoman, turning to Stitch.

Stitch faced her and repeated, "Stitch. My name Stitch," slowly.

"Ah," the Head Councilwoman said before turning back and continuing. "The trouble that Stitch has caused you. I--" She stopped as she realized what just happened. She remembered an evil, demented, mindless creature that had nothing in him but destruction and chaos. She looked back at Stitch in surprise.

"Does Stitch have to go in the ship?" Stitch asked, swinging his cuffs in that direction. (His adorableness factor also shot up a fair bit as he said it.)

"Yes...?" the Head Councilwoman answered cautiously, still amazed.

"Can Stitch say good-bye?" asked Stitch.

"Yes," was the reply, a little more definite but still cautious.

"Thank you," nodded Stitch as he went over to Lilo and Nani. Maru, Figment, and Elliott stood by them as well.

Curious, the Head Councilwoman walked over and asked, "Who _are_ you?"

Stitch stopped and turned to her. "This is my family," he answered slowly. "I found it, all by myself." He looked down. "It's little, and broken..." He raised his head and nodded. "But still good. Yeah..." He drooped his head again before starting to sadly walk off into the ship again.

The Head Councilwoman stood, suddenly thrust into a tight situation. She saw that, somehow, the monstrosity had grown a heart and gotten a family when he had landed, in a freak accident, on Hawaii. She was about to exile him for something he might not do anymore, taking him away from his family and a life he could have had with them. Pleakley walked over to her and asked, "Does he really have to go?"

She sighed and shook her head. "Mr. Pleakley, you know as well as I do that our laws are absolute," she told him. "It must be done."

Maru clenched a fist. "Well, what's wrong with breaking the rules once in a while?" he asked a little impatiently.

The Head Councilwoman turned to him and shook her head again. "One little break becomes a crack. A crack becomes a tear, a tear a fracture, and a fracture a fissure," she answered, putting her fingers together. "The law must be upheld at all times by the highest officials, like myself, or chaos will ensue." She turned on her heel and began to walk off.

Mr. Bubbles crouched down to Lilo. "You bought that thing at the animal shelter, right?" he asked her. At this, Lilo looked up, hope glimmering in her heart. As she ran to the Head Councilwoman, Maru gasped and put a hand to his mouth as he realized what Mr. Bubbles was getting at.

"Hey!" called Lilo. She tugged at the Head Councilwoman's robe. The Councilwoman turned and looked around before looking down. Lilo was panting as she reached into her dress and pulled out a pink sheet of paper, showing it to her. "This paper says...that two(?) days ago...I paid two dollars for Stitch..." She gave the paper to the Councilwoman, who read it. A smile spread across her face as Lilo, with a glare, looked up and said, "And if you take him, you're stealing."

The Head Councilwoman smiled and gave the paper back to Lilo. "Bring him here," she ordered the saurian aliens. As Stitch was brought over, she began, "As Head Councilwoman, I hereby sentence Stitch to a lifetime in exile..." She walked over to Nani and Lilo as Stitch was set down in front of them and uncuffed. "...here, on Earth." She held her arms around them. "This family is hereby protected under the power of the Galactic Federation," she finished, looking up again. She added, looking at Mr. Bubbles, "We'll be checking in now and then."

Mr. Bubbles smiled as he said, "I was afraid of that. This will be hard to explain back at headquarters."

"I know what you mean," said the Head Councilwoman with humorous sympathy as she walked to him. She tilted her head. "Do I...know you?" she asked.

"CIA. Roswell. 1978." replied Mr. Bubbles.

"...Ah," the alien said, pointing a finger. "I remember now. You had hair back then." She continued on to board her ship. As she passed by Jamba and Pleakley, she whispered to a dino-alien, "Make sure those two don't get on my ship." The alien nodded in affirmation.

A bit later, Nani, Lilo, Stitch, David, Jamba, Pleakley, Mr. Bubbles, Maru, Figment, and Elliott stood and watched as the ship blasted off. When it went up and was disappearing into the sky, Nani raised an eyebrow and repeated, "CIA?" to Mr. Bubbles.

"Former," Mr. Bubbles corrected, smiling. "Saved the planet once. Convinced an alien race that mosquitoes were an endangered species."

Maru blinked at this before he burst out laughing. "All this technology, and they fell for THAT?!" he asked.

Mr. Bubbles made a short chuckle as he raised his arms. "Hey, Roswell isn't exactly Mosquito Heaven," he reasoned. He chuckled more as he walked over to Maru, removing his sunglasses. "I suppose you're not quite who you say you are, either," he said.

Maru sighed and held his hands up. "You got me," he said. "We're all three actually aliens of a sort, ourselves." Nani, Lilo, and Stitch raised their eyebrows at him. Maru chuckled. "We're literally out of this world," he told them.

"I KNEW it!" Lilo said, grinning.

"We're here because of the Heartless. We wanted to find the Keyhole and make sure this world's heart isn't taken. If that happened, you guys could have kissed your existance good-bye," Maru confessed. "I'm really sorry that I couldn't explain earlier. You have NO idea how hard it's been for me to whip up lie after lie. The part about me being psychic wasn't a lie, though, Nani," he added to her. "Nor was the part about me wanting to help you."

Nani smiled and put a hand to her chest. "Maru, you and Figment and Elliott helped us out so much..." She blushed a bit. "Thank you so much."

Maru nodded, smirking. "No problem. However, we've got to go...that is, after we savor a nice rest on the beach tomorrow, when the sun is still up and the water's fine," he said, looking at his companions. "I promised these guys we'd take a break. See, we've been on a pretty long journey, going between different worlds and stopping the Heartless. I'd have to say that this has been the longest leg thus far, though..."

Mr. Bubbles chuckled a little. "I'll bet it feels like it," he said. "From what I hear, the Heartless are no picnic."

"Yeah, they eat all the desserts before anyone can get to them," Figment said. Maru smacked his (own) forehead as he fought laughing at the joke.

Mr. Bubbles smirked a bit. "You guys don't have to worry too much, though," he said. "We can handle ourselves here. Besides, the Heartless only really spike when the Keyblade's around."

Maru started. "That's right! I think I was thinking about something else when I was told about how the Keyblade's almost like a magnet for Heartless," he recalled. He sighed and shook his head. "That'd explain a LOT." He sighed and looked around. "Well, I sealed the Keyhole, as half of Hawaii saw," he said, putting his hands behind his head a bit like Sora. "And it's getting dark, soon, and we're all pretty tired. So, how's about we go and camp out, me and my comrades, and leave you guys to what you will?" he suggested.

Mr. Bubbles raised an eyebrow. "Aren't you going to stay and help?" he asked. "They're out of a home right now, you know."

Maru sighed, letting his hands down, and looked a bit sorry as he smiled lightly. "Well, I'm sorry, but there are other worlds that need our help," he said. "We're leaving tomorrow afternoon after we take our promised rest."

Mr. Bubbles sighed and held his hands up. "Well, if you insist..."

Lilo ran over to Maru. "Are you gonna be back soon?" she asked, looking up.

Maru smiled down at her. "Maybe," he replied truthfully.

Lilo smiled. "Okay," she said. She was about to go back to Nani and David before she remembered something. "Oh! Thanks a lot for helping Stitch and I!" she said. "I don't have anything to give you, though..."

Maru chuckled. "Don't worry, I still have that necklace you gave me," he said, and he dug in his pocket. "See? I've got it right..." He stopped as he pulled out a handful of shells. "...Oh, no, it broke..." He sweatdropped and knit his eyebrows together sorrily as he crouched down and showed her the remnants of her gift. "I'm sorry, it must have happened in a fight..."

Lilo frowned at it, but she gasped as she thought of something. "Don't worry!" she said, taking the shells. "I've got a better idea for a gift, anyway!" She put the shells away in her dress. "Come see me before you go tomorrow, and I'll give it to you, okay?" she asked.

Maru nodded, smiling. "I will," he said, and she scampered off. Nani came over, followed by David. "Nani, David," he greeted. "Sorry for all this fuss."

Nani and David smiled. "Oh, it's no biggie," David said.

"You made our lives...more interesting," Nani chose. "Thank you and Stitch for saving Lilo, and thank you for all your hard work. I've got a job, now, and David's going to be...hanging around to help." She smiled at David, and Maru felt the emotional power between them, making him blush. "Don't worry. You should get going if you need to. We'll remember you, though!" she said. "We promise! You're all a welcome part of our family anytime you want!"

Maru started at this, blushing fully. "I...I am?" he asked. He slowly smiled and bowed deeply. "Thank you very much."

"Ooooooh, lookit him BLUSH!!" Figment said, sniggering and pointing up at Maru's face.

Maru anger-veined and held a fist up. "I-I am NOT!" he lied.

Everyone laughed except Maru and Mr. Bubbles.

- - -

The next day, Maru awoke and found a pair of deep violet Hawaiian-print swim trunks and a violet-and-white two-tone towel on the ground in front of him. He saw the note attatched to the trunks and read it.

"Dear Maru,

I know that you don't know how to swim, but you just can't have a fun day on the beach without a pair of these! You could go without the towel, but you'd get all sandy, and I didn't think you wanted to use your cloak (which I don't reccomend wearing in this heat). I saw these in the store the other day and thought you might like them. I hope they're the right size...Oh, and sorry about passing right by you when I was saving Stitch--I realized later on that you were drowning. It looks like you came out alright, though! Just...it might be a good idea for you to learn how to swim someday. When that day comes, you can keep these. Don't worry if they don't fit anymore--they've got a drawstring, and they're pretty big, anyway. I couldn't find any sandals, since your pants(?) covered your feet too much for me to estimate the size you wear. Have fun on the beach with your dragon friends! Oh, and use some of the sunscreen I got you, too! (Hey, if you had some already, sorry, but why waste freebies?)

In other news, I'm finally going to go out with Nani. She promised after I found her a job. Wish me luck! We're going to be working with Jamba and Pleakley, who are moving in with Nani, Lilo and Stitch, to rebuild Lilo's house using parts from their ship, starting today. We all want you to stay and help, since your psycho powers might help us. (Sorry, Nani told me to say "psycho" instead of...uh...oh, "psychic". Good old dictionary!) Besides, we like you guys, and we're going to miss you. I'm never going to forget the night we met, and I hope we might be able to perform again together. You've got some very good talent!

Running out of space...Well, we all just wanted to say thank you for helping us out, and good luck on fighting those Heartless things. (By the way, those white things we fought together were Heartless, weren't they?) And good luck handling that Heartless you caught, too--it sure doesn't look like the cuddliest thing in the world. Swing by again sometime, okay? Maybe I can show you how to surf! (Come on, Stitch was dead scared of the water, and he learned it in a day. You can do it, I know it!) Oh, Lilo wants me to remind you that she wants to see you before you go. She'll be at her house. Jamba says that he wanted to talk with you, but understands you're in a hurry, and Pleakley just says that you were quite fascinating (though he finds all humans fascinating, obviously...). Oh, and Stitch says that he had a lot of fun and thanks. (I KNEW he wasn't a dog, didn't you?) Anyway, thanks for coming, and visit us soon!

Your surfer friend,

David"

Maru looked at it and sighed. "If it weren't for the fact that I have a home to restore, myself, David," he whispered, "I just might stay." He put the note with the collection of items that he keeps in his cloak and changed into the swim trunks inside his sleeping bag. (They were the kind that had built-in underwear, he was happy to find.) Figment and Elliott had stripped down and were ready. Maru smirked as he stood up. "How do I look?" he asked.

Figment and Elliott grinned and gave him the thumbs up. "I've ALWAYS enjoied your taste in color, Maru," Figment complemented.

"Can we go to the beach now?" asked Elliott.

"Breakfast first," Maru said. He moved to the save disc, let it rejuvinate him, and moved off. "Okay, eat up and so we can soak up!" he said, and his partners laughed.

Later, when they had all grabbed their things (the dragons found towels on the Gummi Ship, too), tourists stopped and stared, some snapping pictures, as a pair of dragons and a man with big, purple hair lay on towels on the sand, soaking up the sun while snoozing away in bliss. Well, the dragons were. Maru was busy sitting up and working on a medium-sized chocolate ice cream cone, licking it like a cat giving itself a bath as, in a voice only those a foot away (and awake) could hear, a gentle, content purr emitted from his throat. He smiled as he watched the waves. 'Yeah,' he thought. 'We needed this. Even though we rested up naturally three nights in a row, this is such a different rest.' He licked his cone all the way around before it dribbled onto his hand. 'I guess this is relaxation when it's used as directed.'

After he finished his cone, he lay back and snoozed a bit as well. His draconic comrades slept joyfully and fitfully for the full five hours that Maru allotted themselves, but he himself only slept for four of them, resembling a cat napping in a sunbeam while he did.

- - -

Meanwhile, Stitch was helping out build the house from ship parts. He was helping dismante the ship, which Jamba had brought in from the ocean, when he saw something onboard that intrigued him. It appeared to be some sort of machine. A moniter showed a blank screen over the console, and a small circular chamber with lights and stuff all over it stood connected to the side. Curious, he hopped up in the chair by it and pressed buttons at random.

Suddenly, the machine hummed and the screen showed an image of a strange world, where a town was under construction amidst a field of crystal. In the town was a trio of a duck, a dog, and a human--the human holding a Keyblade, and the group fighting Heartless!! Stitch gasped, suddenly feeling the need to help them. He nodded and looked at the console. He pressed a few more buttons and the hum intensified as the chamber started to light its lights.

At this time, Jamba was walking down the corridor beside the room. He heard the hum and raised his eyebrows. "What the..." He went on and went faster as he heard the humming get louder. "GAAH! MY MACHINE!!" he cried in panic. "I FORGOT TO LOCK IT!!" He skidded to a halt in front of the door and took a gasp of horror.

Stitch was getting into the chamber as a feminie voice started from it. "Now initializing time-space warp. Keep all hands, feet, paws, footpaws, eyes, ears, noses, heads, antennae, tentacles, stomachs, buttocks, love handles, feelers, horns, tails, hairs, wings, skin flaps..." It continued to list body parts as Jamba dashed in.

"NO, STITCH!! STOP! IT'S NOT FINISHED YET!" he cried in panic. Suddenly, he was grabbed from behind by something before promptly being picked up. "What on--?!" he muttered before reaching out to Stitch. "WAIT!! _I DON'T KNOW IF YOU'LL SURVIVE OR NOT!!_" he screamed.

Then, while Stitch waved, he was zapped away as the voice finished, "...and energy sections inside the chamber at all times." The machine suddenly crackled with electricity before it exploded. When Jamba looked up, the whole thing had holes, bent metal, and fried circuits riddling its surface. Every light bulb had blown violently, breaking the glass.

He cried in horror, "STIIIITCH!!" as he reached out to the platform.

"Iich?"

"Huh?" Jamba looked down, but couldn't see. "Wait, what--Ooof!" He was put down by whatever it was. As soon as he could, he turned around to see and gasped into a smile as he did. "STIIITCH!! How you--?"

Stitch stood, just as good as ever. In his alien language, he explained, "After I helped out at the world I went to and Sora's journey ended, I tried to get back home but couldn't. Then, Maru came and he had a Gummi Ship, the space ship he uses between worlds. So, I snuck on and waited to see if he'd get here. He did, and so I came down with them and waited until the time I knew I was going to use the machine. I was sent to the past, you see," he added. "It was really fun, too! I didn't get to do all the things I could with Maru, but I got to help Sora out a lot! I'm glad I'm back, though. You made me too mischeivous, you know, so it's all your fault."

Jamba widened his eyes. "It WORKED?" he asked in wonder, walking towards him. He gasped. "Of course! Because you already existed in this world when you come, you could not be in two places at same time and was invisible...like ghost..."

Stitch nodded. "I could actually touch things sometimes, but it hurt a little whenever I did it wrong, so I tried to remain out of sight. I actually helped out Maru when he was here, though...it's weird knowing that I caused certain things to happen to me indirectly. If I hadn't rustled the bushes near the shortcut to the animal shelter, Maru wouldn't have met me and had fun with all of us! It was really funny watching us fight with you!" he commented, pointing at Jamba and laughing.

Jamba sighed, shaking his head. "I DID make you with too much trouble," he muttered before he beckoned. "Come. We have work to do. And let's leave my machine alone--it is dangerous and should be kept out of reach of children." He began walking off.

"Hey!" Stitch said, starting after him.

"Well, you ARE a child...Oh, no...how much have you aged?"

"Uuuuuh...A half a year, I think."

"That's it? Good, Lilo would have my hide if you told me you'd aged a hundred..." Their voices faded away as they went back to stripping the metal on the ship.

- - -

Maru yawned and stretched, again acting like a cat more than a human. He looked to his sides and saw that his teammates were still asleep. "They're not used to all of this adventure, are they?" he muttered. He shrugged and opened his bag, which was really his cloak, folded up into a sack and tied shut. It was sitting on the sand next to him, and Navi was currently nigh-invisible in the bright light as she used a flap of it as her own towel. She stirred as Maru opened the bag. "Oh, sorry, Navi," he muttered.

"Naw," she yawned, fluttering up and then stalling a bit as she stretched. "I'm fine. I'm used to all sorts of things like this." She watched as Maru brought out the cell phone-like Pokédex. "I can't believe that thing's waterproof," she commented as Maru opened it up.

"It is??" he asked anxiously. "I was afraid that I'd have to go back to Professor Oak and get it fixed. So soon...I would have been embaressed..." He flicked through the entries and found a new one. "'Punjari'?" he read. "Interesting name." He clicked it and looked at the data that was availible.

H#4: Punjari (pun-JAR-ree). The Sea Urchin Pokémon. Types: (1) Heartless / (2) Poison. Ability: Rough Skin/Poison Point. Length: 1' 8.4". Weight: 87.3 lbs. Color: Black. Entry: Its sharp spines can measure from an inch to a foot in length. They are retractable to allow top-speed swimming underwater.

Maru saw a small picture of it. It appeared to have small, blue eyes and bore a new symbol on its forehead in place of the Heartless emblem. He saw an option that said, "Different forms." He selected it and saw a gallery. He saw the picture again and found it was captioned, "Normal, Female." He pressed an arrow that slid and showed it with white eyes and the Heartless emblem. "Violent, Female," it read. "Violent?" he repeated, raising an eyebrow. "Well, I guess that describes how Heartless usually are..." He was about to flick it shut when he decided to look at Terroge's entry.

H#2: Terroge (tear-ROHG). The Bullet-Counter Pokémon. Types: (1) Heartless / (2) Dragon. Ability: Bullet Dodge (All physical ranged Normal, Fighting, Ground, Rock, and Steel moves miss or fail, always.) Length: 10' 10.5" (Height: 7' 3"). Weight: 964 lbs. Color: Black. Entry: It has the ability to teleport to dodge many physical projectiles like its former form, but it is now able to teleport in front of whoever fired and counterattack.

"Outside of Trainer battles," added Maru as he looked at Terroge's pictures. As he thought, Terroge was male, and his pre-capture picture was the same as when he had seen him for the first time. The change between his Heartless emblem and the design on his stomach now was fairly dramatic. He looked through to see if it had scanned him at all, just to be sure. He breathed a sigh of relief as M#150 was blank. Although he had an idea, he wondered what the letters meant.

"'H' means 'Heartless', 'M' means 'Mundane', and 'N' means 'Nobody'," explained Navi.

"I thought so," Maru said, snapping the Pokédex shut and putting it back. He took out his belt, upon which were now two Light Balls. He grabbed off Punjari's and maximized it. "I wonder if I should say hello to it," he muttered, looking at the ball.

"Not here," Navi said, sweatdropping. "People are already taking enough pictures of Figment and Elliott or giving them a wide berth. Let's not make another scene like the day before yesterday, okay?"

Maru sighed and nodded, minimizing the ball and putting it back in the bag. "Well, alright," he said. He looked at his body and smirked. "I think I see a little tiny tan on my skin," he said. "I was worried I might burn." He looked at the waves crashing in on shore and frowned a little. "I wish I could swim," he muttered before shrugging and lying down again, closing his eyes as he felt the warm sand underneath his towel.

"Maybe we'll learn along the way," Navi suggested. She sighed. "Look, just enjoy our last fifteen minutes before we have to get back to work. We've been sleeping around for a while. I'm afraid that we spent too much time here...We should actually get going now, really. I mean--"

"Navi?"

"Yes?"

"What did I say about nagging me?"

"...Shutting up."

"Good choice."

- - -

A quarter of an hour later, Maru woke from his doze and stretched again before wobbling Elliott. "Elliott...Elliott...Come on, big guy, wake up. I'm sorry, but we've got to go," he said quietly. He waited for a second before shaking him again, making his stomach wobble a little. Frowning, Maru slapped him on the peak of the belly, sweatdropping as it made a bit of a ripple.

Elliott didn't budge and continued to snore on.

''Elliott, wake up!'' Maru sent with a quiet, but firm voice.

Elliott blinked and grunted before slowly sitting up. "Awwww..." he yawned, stretching. "I was so comfortable, too..."

"Sorry, but it's time to go," Maru said. He turned to wake Figment up. He didn't have to push against the side of his gut with both hands like he had to with Elliott, and instead used one hand and rolled him a little. "Oi, annoyance incarnate, rise and shine," he said quietly.

Figment yawned and rolled over. "Just five more minutes..." he mumbled sleepilly.

Maru sighed and picked him up with telekinesis, turning him over rotisserie-style once before dropping him on his face to his towel. "Five hours in the sun on purpose is enough. Come on, we've got more worlds to explore."

Figment grumbled as he pushed himself up, brushing sand off of himself. "I'm gonna need a week-long vacation after I'm done with all of this," he joked, still playful despite just waking up.

After Navi returned to the inside of Maru's bag, the three gathered up their stuff and left the beach. They got back to Lilo's house and found it well under reconstruction already. Maru smiled and walked over to Lilo, who was carrying a board together with Stitch. When she saw Maru, she gasped and smiled. "Maru! You remembered!" she said, running over and dropping her end of the board. Stitch yelped and was off-balance for a moment, but could handle the board on his own (though he gave a look at Lilo).

Maru smiled and crouched down to her as she came over. "Of course," he said. "You and David both reminded me, after all."

Lilo smiled and reached into her dress. "It took a while for me to find a clip thingy like I needed for it, but I finished this last night," she said, bringing out her gift. It was a keychain with a string instead of a chain. Tiny seashells were beaded along its length, as were small lei flowers. At the bottom hung a large sand dollar. "It's a good luck charm. It's something to help you remember us by. Do you like it?" she asked.

Maru grinned. 'I think she did this entirely on purpose!' "I love it," he said, putting it in his bag. "I'm sure I'll remember you when I look at it."

She smiled. "You know where it'd look good?" she asked.

"Where?"

"On the bottom of your big key thingy!" she answered.

"You're right!" Maru said, trying to act like a nice adult since he was dealing with a child. 'She DID!' "Let's put it on now and see how it looks, shall we?" he asked, and, standing up with the new keychain in one hand and summoning Field-G in the other, he switched them. When the new keychain was put on, the Keyblade changed.

To his utter and complete surprise, instead of something with an island theme to it, the Keyblade instead turned into, essentially, a finished-wood electric guitar with a basic, curvy design body seen on many electrics, complete with four dials, a cream scratch plate, a whammy bar, and a hole on the front for a cord. The teeth were now knobs on the guitar's head. The handguard was the body of the guitar, whic was actually a bit smaller than normal guitars to compensate for the weapon. The hilt was rounded like normal, but had the strings over it, which he was gripping somewhat painfully. He found a little lever by the ends of the strings and pushed it experimentially. He heard a pair of loud clicks and saw that the strings had all been lowered into grooves in the hilt, out of the way of harm for both his hand and themselves. He also noticed that there was a pair of pegs on the body, one near the neck and one that had a hole in it and doubled as the loop for the keychain. He looked at it in amazement, as did Lilo, for a moment before he thought for a moment.

Kneeling down and setting the Keyblade on one knee, he held the neck, which still had the strings up and in danger for some reason, flicked the lever back, and pressed his fingers onto the strings. They went down. Experimentially, he released the strings and strummed. The E-A-D-G-B-E chord met his and Lilo's ears, though quietly because of the fact that there wasn't anything to resonate the sound on the minimalized body that barely had enough room to set his hand so he could play. He then fingered a random chord and strummed again. To his delight, it played something entirely different. He grinned and called Stitch over. "Looks like I'm not going to pretend anymore when we finish up our Limit," he chuckled as he played a few chords and strummed along. Stitch cheered and danced around a bit while Maru played.

Lilo jumped up and down excitedly. "This is so COOL!" she said. "And you're going to beat up Heartless with that, too, huh?" A nod, and she pumped her arm into the air. "AWESOME!! Now you can play like The King without having to pay a lot of money for an electric guitar!!" She paused, then put her finger to her chin as she looked down, smile fading a bit. "Wait, you still have to get a strap, a pick, and a cord...but then you'll have to pay for an amp, too," she muttered. She sighed in semi-distress. "Well, at least you've got the important part of it," she said, shrugging. She smiled again. "I think it's cool. I hope it helps!" she said happily.

Maru smiled and dismissed it after putting the strings down again. "It's definitely going to," he said with honesty. "Thank you very much, Lilo!" He bowed in thanks for his new weapon form. 'I was getting really tired of Field-G. This one is a HELL of a lot better, and doubles as a real guitar; its neck is exactly the same length as a normal guitar's, so its strings are, too. And since it's an electric, all I need is a cord and amp and I'm good.' He rose and waved to everyone at the house, who had come out to say good-bye. "Everyone, thank you--especially David, for the beach stuff; I like them!" he called, waving. David chuckled and said he was relieved. To everyone, he continued, "We're going now. Wish us luck, and good luck on rebuilding your house! Farewell!" He began moving off, waving behind him.

"Bye!!" called Figment and Elliott, waving as well while they followed Maru.

The whole family waved back at them as they went to the jungle and disappeared up to their campsite.

Once there, Maru changed into his normal outfit and put Field-G's keychain in his back pocket with the others. He sighed. "Come on, let's get out of here before I lose what's left of my seriousness," he said, and the dragons laughed as they all finally beamed back up to the ship.

*****OBTAINED "Different Key"*****

- - -

"WHERE have you BEEN?!" Chip fumed, steaming mad. "THREE DAYS?! What, did you think you were on vacation?!"

Maru, who had ended up getting a bit of a tan on his face more than the rest of his body, chuckled mirthlessly as he put his new items in storage. "If you'd seen what we all did, then you'd see that it was least of all a vacation," he told the chipmunk. "Sorry it took so long, though."

"You'd BETTER be," he spat, and humphed off, leaving Maru to roll his eyes before realizing that he was usually a stickler for getting things done, himself. 'I AM losing SOMEthing...'

- - -

OH, MY GOD, THE HORROR!! -faints- I thought that'd NEVER end...You guys like big chapters, though, right? ...Hello? -hears crickets chirping- O.O;; I just bored my already-tiny audience away...Meep.


	24. 13: Toybox Troubles

**Bit 13: (Interlude)**

Maru stretched and cracked his knuckles as he sat in his chair. "Well," he grunted as he stretched, "what's next?" He sighed this last bit out while flopping his arms down again. He looked at the computer moniter.

"Well, this place over here," Dale said, pointing to the other new world on the map from above while sitting on the dashboard. "Let's set a course there now! It's still a whole new day!"

Maru nodded. "Right. It's time to get back to work." He touched the world and buckled up while the engines fired to life. A happy, evil smile crept onto his face as he gripped the steering wheel.

Chip rolled his eyes. "Well, at least you like your job," he muttered, and Dale laughed.

As usual, the ride there was wild and a lot of fun for Maru. "They're getting tougher," he noticed midway through. "Good; that just means more of a challenge for me!"

They stopped above the world and everyone looked outside at it. "Looks like a normal, modern-day place in America," Maru observed, pressing his face against the glass a little.

"Another one?" asked Figment, raising an eyeridge. "So much for variety."

"Do YOU see a beach?" asked Elliott, raising an eyeridge to his small friend and half-eyeing. Maru, chuckling at the tone the big guy had in his voice, translated for him.

Figment tilted his head to a side. "I guess you're right," he admitted.

Maru crossed his arms and furrowed his brow. "This place feels a bit different..." he muttered. "And something about it seems a little different, too." He shook his head and turned to leave. "Well, let's see what we're going to be getting ourselves into, this time," he said.

"Wait!" Figment called, holding a claw up. "I just remembered something!" He rifled through his deck and pulled out two yellow cards that each had a "?" on it.

Maru raised his eyebrows at this. "The Missingno card?" he asked, walking over to examine them.

Figment nodded. "Yeah," he said. "One for each me and Elliott. I just remembered about them--I totally forgot! I made them when we were sitting on our tails at Melee Arena." He gave one to Elliott.

Maru blinked, then anime fell. "You FORGOT after only THAT LONG?!" he asked, getting up and anger-veining, shaking a fist a little. "Gee, that would've helped a LOT back in Hawaii!"

Figment calmly held a palm up to Maru and wore a slight frown and closed eyes. "Not really," he said. "They only work when there is no other way for us to truly blend in. They won't turn us into humans. Come to think of it, they wouldn't've helped at all back at Paris or Sherwood. If the world we're entering has a very unique restrictment, the cards will change us. We've just been pretty lucky that we haven't met any that needs us two to change." He waggled a finger at Maru every once in a while at a word while explaining, face still the same.

Maru raised his eyebrows at the end. "Oh," he said, "I see. Sorry, then." He bowed a little, then turned to the door. "Well, Elliott, Figment?" he asked over his shoulder. "Ready to get out of here?"

Figment, eyes open and face wearing its normal, smiling expression, nodded. Elliott did the same, both going, "Mm-hmm!"

Maru beckoned with his arm. "Then let's get going. We've got a new world to explore and expunge of Heartless and Nobodies." 'And to see if there are any clues about anyone else from my world...or those black-cloaked folk...'

Figment giggled as he trotted after him. "Hee-hee...'Expunge'..." he muttered. Maru rolled his eyes a little.

"DON'T TAKE A MILLION YEARS, THIS TIME!!" hollered Chip & Dale at the tops of their lungs behind them.

As they got to the room where they would "beam down", Maru called out Navi. "Say, I never asked: What's with my new Keyblade?"

Navi nodded, and examined his weapon after he summoned it. "Hmmm...Alright, it looks like it's slightly more tuned to moves--pardon the pun--but still can do good damage. Its ability is called Reaction Boost, meaning it powers up the effectiveness of those unique actions you've done when you feel a chance in the Keyblade." She paused in midair to lift her wings in her best shrug before flapping again to stay afloat.

Maru smirked. "Well, that sounds useful," he commented. "Thank you." Navi nodded again and flew back into his collar. He turned to the device to send them down. "Let's put it to use..."

- - -

Sunset shone through the window of a nearly-barren child's room. The reddening sun slowly sank behind an intersection of the wooden rods holding the panes, the vertical wider than the horizontal and the vertex off-center--to the lower-left--of the burning ball. On the floor were a few boxes, on a desk by the open window were a few toys, and underneath the bed were a few sudden flashes of light.

Maru and company looked at one another in the darkness created by the overhanging comforter. "I feel strange," Maru commented. He lifted a hand and frowned at the black shape that came up instead.

"More than normal, you mean?" chuckled Figment, who got shot a light blue-glowing glare. He shrugged and shook his head. "I try...I can't see very well in the light, but you look normal," he told him.

The Keyblader squinted at the dragons, pushing his inherent night vision to its human form limits. "Same for you," he replied.

"I still feel so...so WEIRD, though," Elliott mumbled.

"Hold on," Navi's voice squeaked. Everyone slightly winced as soft blue light filled the space. Navi had flown out of Maru's collar and lit herself up brighter. She hung in midair between them all, acting as a light bulb. "There. Better?" she asked, looking around at them and their surroundings.

Around them were more carboard boxes, mostly. A checkerboard with the pieces all set up lay out nearby. Grey, cotton candy-like bushes grew here and there, very occasionally shaken by minute breezes.

"Much; thanks, Navi," Maru answered. He looked at himself harder, then raised his eyebrows before narrowing them. "If this is some cosmic joke, I daresay I am most definitely NOT laughing," he growled.

"Huh?" Figment went before looking at himself. After a second, he squeaked and jumped a bit. "Woah! I'm...I'm..."

"...HARD!!" Elliott wailed, face twisted into distress. He was lifting up his frontal armor and placing a paw on his gut. As he pressed, instead of it sinking into himself, his flesh gave not an inch.

"We're action figures...!" Figment squealed, grinning. He held his fists to his head, arms bending normally but shoulders rotating in their new actual sockets. "We can do stuff we can't normally! Watch!" And he windmilled his arms without a problem. He giggled and brought them back to their fists-at-jaw positions again. He beamed excitedly and asked, "Ain't this just so COOL?!"

"NO!!" Maru and Elliott snapped back, glaring. Figment shrank away at this, definitely hearing a negative tone in the larger lizard's voice.

Figment frowned and looked angrily hurt. "SHEESH, you don't have to bite my head off," he complained.

"Don't tempt me," growled Elliott, crossing his arms, and Maru couldn't help but chuckle at this, albiet a little wryly.

Navi flew around them all. "Soooo...you're all made of...plastic, right?...I-I'm from a world you'd call medival, so gimmie a break!" she defended when Figment gave her a slightly jeering look of surprise.

Maru shook his head and put his plastic hands into his pockets, sulking off. His hair stiffly bobbed a little as he went, now made of synthetic material and glued into the hairspikes they were naturally. "Just when you think you are as manmade as you can be..." the genetic pokémon grumbled, a modicum of pain coming out. "Let's leave," he said louder, stopping and turning to the place where the save disk had appeared. The green spot lit itself up nearby the leg of the bed they were beneath. "I hate this place already."

"Me, too," Elliott agreed, stomping over. A dust bunny skittered off on the wind generated by his swinging tail and high-area body pushing through the air.

"Somebody's cranky," muttered Navi and joked Figment, following him.

"Well, I just want to be natural again!" Elliott explained, turning his upper body around and opening his arms at the two smaller members of their party. Navi, able to understand his speech, translated for Figment. "Don't you, Maru?" the big guy asked, turning back to the pokémon.

Maru, back turned to them, flinched at this, wincing, before relaxing and saying calmly, "Yeah, me, too."

"So, let's get going, get down to the bottom of whatever's with this world, get our Navi-G and get you out of here," Navi suggested, flying back over to Maru. "You okay?" she whispered when she got there.

Maru lowered his face, eyes shadowed out. ''Less than I could be,'' he sent. "Yes, good plan," he spoke. "Let us be off." He held his collar open for Navi to fly in, snuffing out her light and plunging them in darkness once more. This was remedied a second later when he crouched and lifted up the hem of the comforter.

**Bit 13: Suburban Toyland**

The trio looked around. "It appears to be a child's room," Maru stated. He raised an eyebrow and added, "...It looks nice with that sunset."

"Doesn't it, though?" Figment agreed.

"What do we do first, Maru?" Elliott asked.

"Find someone to talk to about--" Maru began before hearing a woman's scream. The group turned to the desk, from which the cry came. Black shapes were seen moving about. "Nevermind," grumbled, shaking his head.

The three looked around for the best way to get there. Maru found a few books on the floor by the desk that made stairs up to the chair. So, he literally climbed up them and onto the chair itself. From there, he leaped onto the desk, pulling himself up after grabbing the edge.

Before them was a scene that mildly surprised the purple-haired wanderer: The toys were alive, as well as being attacked by their-size Heartless. A bulky-looking action figure in a white, purple, and glowing-in-the-dark green spacesuit stood in a threatening pose, aiming a blinking red light on his arm at a Heartless and making no more than a red dot. A pink-dressed woman with a bonnet and a shepherd's crook hid behind him, and a mostly-cloth cowboy pullstring doll cowered behind her. Hiding in a pink and white crib to the right was a green, hollow-bodied, hard plastic dinosaur with movable legs and jaw. Near the edge on the far left sat a magic 8 ball. To the left on the wall leaned a corkboard with crayon drawings, to the far right stood a stack of boxes (atop which was a cowering RC car), and to the nearer right was an adjustable red desk lamp. It was currently bent over at an angle, like a bird bending over to peck at the ground but not quite reaching yet. The open window directly in front of Maru faced the driveway. Across the way, Maru felt an immense amount of malevolence from the next-door neighbor's house.

"BACK, fiends!!" cried the spaceman before commenting aloud, "It seems my laser is having no effect on these beasts!"

BWANG!! Kssshhaaw...A low-fi power chord rang out as Maru delivered a strong, two-handed jumping strike to a Shadow, destroying it in one hit. Different Key's strings seemed unharmed after they struck the...flesh, I suppose, of the Heartless. 'That's some guitar,' Maru mused later.

"THAT sure as heck did," commented, to Maru's mild surprise (again), (a) Mr. Potato Head. He and (a) Slinky Dog were camped on the shelves. He looked with a suspicious raised eyebrow at Maru and asked, "Where'd YOU come from?"

"A lab, like everyone else here did at some point," Maru replied.

"Great, a smart alec," grumbled the plastic potato, rolling his eyes.

The Heartless turned to face the new threat as Figment and Elliott stood beside Maru, ready for combat. "Stand down, civilians!!" came the voice of the spaceman. He ran out into view from behind a new, ball-like Heartless. He pressed a button on his suit. "I've set my laser from 'stun'...to 'kill.' Get down or you'll be sorry!" He then pressed his laser button, indicated by a sticker with hazard stripes and "LASER" in white stencil letters over them, again.

"Get 'em, Buzz!!" cheered the big dinosaur.

Maru half-eyed the spacesuited toy. "I don't think that's going to work," he commented.

Indeed, all the Heartless were doing was standing there, blinking at the red light on a Neoshadow's forehead.

Buzz grimaced. "Well, it seems I'll have to resort to melee tactics," he said, releasing his laser and getting into a fighting pose.

Maru progressed to an anger-vein. "For the love of--Look, I seriously doubt hitting them with plain hard plastic's going to do much good, ei--" But he was stopped when Buzz, indeed, had managed to execute a karate combo on a Neoshadow. Maru stood, blinked, then said, "I stand corrected."

With Buzz fighting, relying on his martial arts knowledge (which was surprisingly extensive for a toy), the battle atop the desktop began. (Getting tired of these bad puns yet? :3 ) Later dubbed simply the Bouncy Rubball, the ball Heartless, as I said, was new. It appeared to be made of a rubbery material and was fairly big, a little larger than the Large Bodies. It had some black and dark blue stripes around it and the Heartless Emblem on one end in a circle. Big, vacant eyes were on the polar opposite end. It attacked by bouncing around and steamrollering its opponents. If in a pinch, it would charge with spikes coming out of it. Surprisingly, the Emblem, or the rear, wasn't the only place vulnerable; you could strike it on its face, as well, but it was as useless as hitting a Large Body's or a Fat Bandit's stomach everywhere else. Hitting it with a finishing blow at any time sent it farther than normal Heartless. Maru discovered a fun chance with it: He hopped up on top of it, held his Keyblade like a balancing pole, and started to backstep. The ball moved forwards and rammed into any enemy in its path. He could turn it by running in different directions on top of it, and found it challanging to stop moving. He was on there for only a few seconds before the Bouncy Rubball bounced up and threw him off.

When the battle was finally finished, Maru, Figment, Elliott, and Buzz were surrounded by toys that had come out of hiding, albiet from the floor and other surfaces. They crowded around and looked in awe at the newcomers and satisfied impression at Buzz. "I knew you could beat 'em, Mr. Lightyear!" the t-rex said in relief.

"Yeah, you were way cooler than sissy ol' Woody!" Mr. Potato Head complimented. He sniggered and thumbed over at the cowboy, who was standing at an end of the desk and crossing his arms sulkilly. He raised his eyebrows and blushed angrilly as he heard this comment. "What could HE do? Smack him with his pullstring?" Potato Head continued, putting his hands at his hips. (Big points for recognizing the ref. here!)

Woody fumed and walked over, his action more visible than normal with his long, thin legs. "Alright, alright, that's enough," he said, waving his arms to clear the crowd. "Show's over, everyone's safe, now, thanks MOSTLY to those weird, new guys," he said, getting right in Buzz's visor-covered face at "mostly". He gestured towards Maru and the dragons. At this, he raised an eyebrow and half-eyed. "Who are you guys, by the way?" he asked, crossing his arms.

"Yeah, and WHAT are you, a magic trick toy?" asked Mr. Potato Head, pointing at Maru. "How'd you get that thing to pop outta thin air all glittery and stuff like that?"

"That's a secret," Maru replied. To Woody, he answered, "I'm Maru, and these are my companions, Figment and Elliott." He motioned with his arm as he introduced them. "I'm not from around here and am just visiting."

"REALly," Woody went, unconvinced. "Seriously, what's the deal with you and those...whatever they were?" he asked, waving his arms to a side when he mentioned the Heartless. "Some posessed toys or something?"

"We're not toys!!" objected Elliott, pouting. "We're real, just we look different than normal."

Maru didn't translate, instead excusing his partner. "Pardon him, he speaks in a strange dial--" he began, but was stopped by a great groan from Woody.

"Great, not you, too," he complained. "First Mr. 'Space Ranger', and now...ugh..."

"You could understand me?" Elliott asked, surprised.

"Yeah, we can, big guy," said the girl shepherd, walking over. "Dunno how, though, but we can."

Figment gawked at this before T.T-facing and whining, "Why is it everyone understands him but a fellow dragon...?"

Buzz raised his eyebrows at this. "Dragons? As in the mythological beasts of Terran lore? I thought you were just dragonlike alien creatures," he commented, surprised.

"Do I LOOK like I have multifaceted, color-changing eyes?" Figment asked unamusedly, fists on hips as he leaned forwards to the Space Ranger.

Maru looked with impression at Figment. "You're more well-read than I thought," he muttered.

"DUH," Figment rolled his eyes at him. "Hello? Product and fanatic of imagination, here?" He pointed at himself, raising an eyeridge.

Woody sighed and shook his head aggrivatedly. "Guys? Guys?" he called, getting the party's attention. He looked a little tired as he smiled sadly and said, "Look, let's just be good and go on like normal. The fight's over, and we can probably depend on you for whenever they come back, Mr. Special Effects-San." He moved his arms to emphisize as he spoke.

Maru anger-viened and fumed, "Don't call me that, and there's no 'Mr.' if you're using '-san'," through gritted teeth.

"Besides, his nickname's Mr. Serious Pants," added Figment, who earned a dodged hit from Maru's fist.

Woody shrugged. "Whatever. Look, thanks for helping, but I think we're fine now. I dunno what you're doing here, but do whatever." He started to walk off to sit, but kept his upper body turned towards them, pointing. "The moment you're doing something screwy, though, or you're going to do something to Andy, you're gonna have to deal with me," he warned. The cowboy turned and walked off to sit and sulk.

"I'm going back to work on my ship," announced Buzz, who turned to a small box full of random items, which he started rooting through, presumably picking out "tools".

"What a mad world," muttered Maru, arms crossed, as he observed all of this.

"Don't let Woody get you down," consoled Bo Peep, the shepherdess, putting a hand on his shoulder from behind. Maru turned to look at her. "A lot's been happening lately, and he's kind of tense."

Maru raised an eyebrow in interest. The feline he was, his curiousity got the better of him yet again.

At one end of the desk, Bo Peep related the events of the movie thus far. "We've been living here as Andy's toys for a while, and Woody's been his favorite since kindergarten," she began. "Then, a couple days ago, Andy had his birthday party early because we're moving--tomorrow, actually. He got Buzz as a surprise present and has been adoring the Space Ranger ever since." She glanced over at Woody, who was sitting with his elbows on his knees, supporting his head in his hands; total sulk mode. Bo Peep frowned sadly. "Needless to say, poor guy's been jealous ever since. Also, Woody's basically the leader of Andy's toys, and so, well..." She trailed off.

"...he feels his position is being threatened by Buzz--that he's being replaced," Maru finished, arms crossed. He nodded. "I don't blame him, but...well, I don't understand quite what it's like to be a toy."

Bo Peep raised an eyebrow at them. "Oh-hoh, I see I shouldn't try mentioning that Buzz is delusional that he's THE Buzz Lightyear, then, should I?" she joked.

"Go ahead," Maru said, shrugging. "I never said I'm not a toy."

"But..." Figment began.

"...we're NOT toys..." Elliott finished the protest.

"Quite frankly, from what I've seen you guys doing, I wouldn't be that surprised," Bo Peep admitted. "Just...don't tell Woody, alright? I don't want him to be any more aggrivated than he is right now."

Maru nodded. "We promise to keep mum about it," he said. He then thought a moment. "Say, have you happened to see anyone in black cloaks? Like, even walking outside?" he asked.

Bo Peep shook her head. "Nope. Who'd be crazy enough to wear black cloaks in this weather? It's the middle of summer," she replied and commented.

Maru sighed and lowered his head in defeat for a moment. 'Oh, well...' Bringing it up again, he asked, "Well, seen anything particularly strange lately?"

Bo Peep shook her head. "Apart from the usual torture Sid, the neighbor kid, puts toys through, and you guys, nothing," she answered.

"Thanks," Maru nodded.

"Well, if there's anything you need to know about Andy's room, talk to me," Bo Peep said before leaving to stand on a part of the desk and look out the window.

Maru turned to the others. "Well, that was fruitless," he muttered. He snapped his fingers. "Damn! I forgot about Ash!...Gah." Louder, he said, "Alright, our next order of business should be..."

"Finding a Navi-G and getting out of here?" Elliott suggested.

"Finging a Navi-G, good idea," Maru agreed. He brought out the tracking device and turned it on. To his surprise, he found that they were getting a reading. "There's one on this world!" he said in surprise.

"Let's find it!" Figment said, and they started to look around the room.

Not much was there; there was the desk, the top of the bed, and underneath the bed. Nobody they spoke to had anything really useful to say. Bo Peep knew nothing about the Navi-G. Speaking to Woody produced little more than elipses. After checking every area, Maru and company strode to the center of the floor.

"NOW what?" Maru asked, arms crossed.

Voices came from downstairs. Woody looked up and shouted to everyone, "PLACES!!"

As Bo Peep ran to her spot she was in before, she called down to Maru and the dragons, "Don't let yourself be seen moving by humans, remember!!"

"We'll just hide, then," Maru said, and they ran to underneath the bed again. They lifted a hem and lay on the floor to see what was going on, though.

A young, short-haired boy ran in. He grinned and picked up Buzz and Woody, who were on the desk, and started playing with them. As he did, Figment sighed and smiled happily, content expression spreading on his face. "Oh, blessed imagination," he breathed dreamilly. "It makes me so happy to see it used so much."

Maru frowned annoyedly and looked at him. "I know you're a product of it, but you seem utterly obsessed with that idea," he commented, slightly disturbed but feeling more like a teenager in a kid's park talking to one of the costumed characters.

Figment smiled happily. "But for good reason!" he replied. "I mean, look at the world today...well, modern worlds." He looked around him, taking in the view of the room. "Imagination is still at work everywhere you go, but its purest sources are fading fast." His face turned into a frown of worry. "Music schools in America--you elitist Japanese dudes have nothing to worry about, giving stuff like class A solos to 8th graders--are losing members daily...not just yearly. Less people are daring to try and draw. And the reading rate is dropping still lower." When he looked back over in Maru's direction, he could see the pain in his eyes, which made him feel worse. "Let's not forget the fact that society's giving kids shallow things to take in and trying vainly to appeal to the preteen--or 'tween', if ya wanna be dorky like that--audience. And the toys..." He looked up at Buzz and Woody. "Those guys are unique. They've got story to them. They're not from pop series, I don't think, that will fizzle out in a year. And the other toys...Seriously, this kid is lucky and smart to have such a variety." He held an arm out and motioned around. "This variety and quality...it's feeding his imagination, and with that, he's giving me hope, looking up at him playing right now." He smiled again, eyes slightly shiny as he knit his brow. "Andy, since that's probably who you are, keep playing. Keep those creative juices flowing. You'll be thankful later when you're able to make things others won't think they can...And memories, too. Make memories of these innocent years. Please." He sighed and dropped his head into his paws, looking up at the child.

Maru blinked, speechless from the speech. 'Wow. He's a hell of a lot deeper and mature than I thought he was.' He then felt a bit bad, and brought his eyebrows closer together. 'Great...HE got ME, this time...he gave me reason. The concerns and realities of today that especially apply to this type of world, the world of the West...' "Sorry, Figment..." he whispered with the smallest puffs of air. His mind smacked itself and he clamped his lips together, blushing and hoping the magenta dragon hadn't heard his words. '...But I'll be damned if I ever let myself sink down to his level of silliness...'

Figment smirked a little and adjusted his position. 'He learns.'

(Were Maru to have come here first instead of Hawaii, this is where he would have gotten the Mis Form.)

After this, Andy's mom came and leaned on the door frame. "All this moving's making me hungry," she stated. She was obviously acting a bit. "How about we go out to, oh, say, Pizza Planet?"

At this, Andy gasped and turned. "PIZZA PLANET?! ALL RIGHT!!" he went, tossing Woody and Buzz back on the desk. They landed, the plastic atop the cloth. As soon as the door was closed, Woody pushed Buzz off of him and scooted away to a corner of the desk as he had before. Maru and company came out of hiding, as well. "Can I take Woody and Buzz along?" asked Andy from behind the door.

"You may bring ONE toy," ruled his mother.

"Awww..." Andy groaned with disappointment.

Woody raised his eyebrows at this and then looked depressed. "One toy?" he repeated quietly, gesturing with his hand. He looked to his right and grabbed the magic 8 ball. Giving a glare at Buzz, he asked the ball, "Will Andy pick me?" and shook.

Don't count on it, read the result.

"'Don't COUNT on it--'Aww, C'MON!!" Woody raged, and he chucked the ball away behind him. It rolled...rolled...THUNK-A-KLUNKKkk. Woody raised his eyebrows, turned, and crawled over to look. His hat curled a bit, pressing against the wall. The magic 8 ball was down the space between the desk and the wall.

"Naw, never hearda that kid," Potato Head went, looking up from his hand by the shelves. "Who the heck calls their kid Ash, anyway?"

"An Evil Dead fan!!" boisterously joked Hamm, whom the vegetable was playing against.

"Thank you, anyway," Maru bowed.

"Sheesh, you really WERE made in Japan, huh?" commented Potato Head, raising an eyebrow.

Maru, straightened again, kept his head down, hiding his eyes again. "You have no idea," he breathed quietly but menacingly.

Figment gulped. "Meep," he went, uneasy look on his face as he glanced up at the desk. "I'm feeling an abuse of imagination..."

Elliott "Huh?"ed, but Maru caught on instantly and whipped his head up to look at the desk. "Je vois," he muttered before beckoning, "C'mon," and starting over. The dragons followed.

"BUZZ!!" Woody cried, jumping and waving his arms around as he ran over to the spaceman. Buzz turned at his name as Woody scrambled over and desperately flopped his hands on his arms. "Buzz Lightyear, Buzz Lightyear, thank GOODNESS! We've got trouble!" He spoke with overacting dread.

Buzz didn't seem to catch on, though. "Trouble? Where??" he asked, sounding the part of the do-gooding superhero perfectly as he looked around.

Woody went beside him and pointed to the spot the magic 8 ball had gone down. "Down there! A helpless toy...he's TRAPPED, Buzz!!" he went, even putting his hand to his forehead and facing away, eyes closed.

"Then we've no time to lose," announced Buzz dutifully, striding over.

Woody, though, peeked open one eye before smugly smiling, creeping over to RC, and picking up his controller. He moved the steering wheel a little bit, awakening the sleeping car.

Buzz stopped and glanced down the crack for a moment. "I don't see anything!" he called.

"Oh, he's down there," called Woody, aiming. RC blinked a couple times as he realized he was being controlled. "Just keep--keep looking!" Woody pulled the ignition trigger. ZZ-ZZ-ZZ-ZZZUUU!! The little green and blue car zipped off, Woody moving the controller as if pushing him along.

"What are you trying to--" Buzz began, looking up, before he gasped and dove out of the way before he was run over. RC rammed instead into the corkboard, bouncing him back. Below, Potato Head gasped.

The board began to lean over and fall down on top of Buzz, raining rattled-loose pushpins down onto him.

Buzz covered his head to sheild himself. Woody looked on in surprised shock at the scene he had created. The board creaked and fell onto a child's globe situated at the far end of the desk, breaking the ball loose. Buzz looked in horror at the thing rolling at him and pulled an Indiana Jones for a moment before stopping and slipping on a crayon and pencil. He danced about on them, making "Woah"s, before he grabbed the sill and rolled away onto it. The horror on Woody's face progressed as he watched what was happening.

The globe rolled right into the lamp, swinging it around. Woody ducked in time, but Buzz, who was just standing up, was struck by it. He fell, uttering an "AUUGH!", out the window.

"BUZZ!" cried some of the toys, including Potato Head and Hamm, who threw their cards up and scampered over to see.

Maru had gotten the gist of what had happened as he pulled himself up onto the desk at the same time Woody ran over to look. He ran over, too, and watched with him as Buzz tumbled down into the bush below. Maru raised an eyebrow and blinked at this, musing how well that chain reaction had gone. (He IS a feline pokémon, after all, and cats like things moving about. Who's to say that chain reactions aren't one of them?)

As the other toys came over, giving theories (with Slink suggesting he bounced into Sid's yard), Woody backed away, shocked at his actions.

Rex looked over as RC pitched his front up, revving his front wheels. "Hey, everybody, RC's trying to tell us something!" he said, stepping over. "What is it, boy?"

RC revved and squealed.

"He says that THIS was no accident," translated Potato Head, looking disgusted and putting his hands on his sides.

The other toys backed away, making confused sounds. "What do you mean?" Bo Peep asked.

"I'm saying Humpty Dumpty was pushed," explained Potato Head, "by WOODY!!" He pointed, and everyone turned to look at his caught off-guard self. Everyone gasped (except Maru, who merely raised his eyebrows).

Woody looked offended. "What? You...C'mon, you don't think I meant to knock Buzz out the window, do you?" he asked like it was ridiculous, putting his hands on his chest and opening them out again. "Potato Head?"

"That's MISTER Potato Head to you," the veggie corrected, glaring at him and pointing, "you back stabbin' murdera!" He shook his fist as the others gasped.

"Now, come on," Woody went, backing away and pushing with his hands, "it was an accident, guys! You--You believe me, don't you?" He was getting nervous, Maru could tell.

"We ba-leeve ya, Woody!" Slink assured his friend, smiling and walking his front forwards a bit. He looked at the others, then at the dinosaur after a second of silence, asking, "Right, Rex?"

Rex looked around, surprised to be put on the spot. "Well, ye--n--" he stuttered before he began to back away. "I don't like confrontations!!" he retreated.

"What about you, Maru?" asked Slink, looking at Maru.

Maru crossed his arms. "I don't know the full story, but I doubt all that chaos was entirely all planned," he answered seriously. "And I don't quite feel like he's lying...though..." He glanced at Woody. "...it feels like this was at least a GENERAL intent...The exact one, I--"

He was cut off by Potato Head pointing at Woody, going, "THERE, see? Special Effects-san KNOWS yer lyin'!"

At this time, one of the green army men from the nearby Bucket O Soldiers popped out and started yelling drill sergent-style at Woody, telling him he doesn't deserve to--Woody shut the lid on him.

"Couldn't handle Buzz cuttin' in on y'play time, could you? That you couldn't have Andy all to yourself?" asked Potato Head in an angrilly calm voice. "Couldn't face the fact that Buzz could be Andy's NEW favorite toy." He advanced towards the cowboy, accusing him. Woody stopped at the edge of the desk, swinging his arms before losing his balance. "So ya got ridda him!" Woody regained his footing and looked at the Playskool toy again.

"Potato Head..." muttered Maru, reaching out to him. 'I'm getting the worst feeling...'

"Well, what if Andy starts playin' with ME, more, huh, Woody?" Potato Head suggested, walking over and thumbing himself. "Ya gonna knock ME outta the window, too?!"

Woody couldn't speak, and instead made motions and ended on a nervous face and smile, lifting one corner and revealing his plastic gums.

"I don't think we should give 'im the chance," Hamm proposed darkly, striding over.

"THERE HE IS, MEN!!" cried the Sarge of the army men, popping the lid right off and pointing. "FRAG 'IM!!" A la Pikmin, the green plastic warriors jumped up and swarmed all over the cowboy's body in a rare show of law enforcement versus law enforcement. Woody made sounds of surprise and helplessness as he tried to wave them off.

"Let's string him up by his pullstring!" Potato Head suggested as he and some other toys advanced onto him.

"I got dibs on his hat!!" Hamm called.

"Would you boys stop it?" Bo Peep asked. She, Rex, and Slink stood away, Maru and co. standing with on the windowsill.

The other toys gathered on the desk went and swarmed around Woody, everyone shouting and making chaos. Maru took a step back. "I am never looking at toys the same way again," he muttered, sweatdropping.

"STOP it!!" Bo Peep cried.

"W-w-w-wait, I can explain!!" tried Woody, but to no avail. He was being tied up by the plastic snake and was surrounded by angry toys.

Maru narrowed his eyes, growling, before stamping his foot and shouting, '"OI!!"' with voice and mind. To his surprise, nobody paid any heed to him. "This is not good..." he muttered worriedly.

"Tell me about it," Figment gulped.

Elliott tugged at his chest armor uneasilly, grimacing. "What should we do?" he asked Maru.

Voices and rapid footsteps were heard. "Hang on, Mom, I've got to go and get Buzz!"

Everyone zipped back to hiding places, leaving Woody to fall limp in his spot. Maru cursed and dove down to the space between the desk and wall, holding himself up by spreading his arms and legs. Figment and Elliott hid behind a box.

Andy looked around a sec, then rooted through some boxes. "Mom, have you seen Buzz?" he called.

"No, honey," replied his mother.

"Psst!" Woody looked up and saw Potato Head standing from a box, pointing at Woody while a small Etch-a-Sketch drew a gallows beside him. They all fell limp again before Andy turned back.

"He was right here!" Andy called, sounding worried.

"I'm walking out the door," warned his mother.

"But I can't find Buzz!" protested the 6-year-old.

"Then pick some other toy, c'mon, let's go," insisted his mom a little impatiently.

"Ooookayyy..." Andy surrendered in dissapointment. Begrudgingly, he grabbed Woody's arm and took him along, going out the door.

Maru jumped up from his spot and hoisted himself back onto the sill. "Oi, Special Effects-san!" called Potato Head, and Maru anger-viened at him, growling. Potato Head put his arms on his hips from his spot in the box. "Why didn't ya help us before? We coulda knocked Woody out flat if you were there!"

Maru frowned at Potato Head in mild disgust. "Isn't this America?" he asked. "What happened to the right to a fair and speedy trial?"

"It went out the window with Buzz," Hamm replied sarcastically.

"Out the..." Maru suddenly realized something, the back of his neck tingling. (He was made of plastic, so there were no hairs to rise.) He whipped his head around to look outside and swore, seeing tiny Heartless spring up around the car. "That boy's depression's brought them out!!" he cried before he dived out the window.

"WHAT THE--YOU CRAZY?!" Slink called after him.

"A little," Figment answered, jumping as well.

"See ya," Elliott bade before doing a nervous cannonball off, too.

"Maybe he's gonna beat up Woody for us," suggested Potato Head.

"Maybe..." Bo Peep worriedly looked after as the three landed in the bush below. "Watch over those two, Maru..."

Maru grunted as he landed, hoping his cloak wasn't messed up. (Hey, he has a lot of stuff in there, not to mention it's a pain to put it on right again!) He scrambled around, fighting his way out of the tangle of wood and leaf. Behind him, Figment landed right through the spaces, being so small, and Elliott made a relatively loud crunch as he crashed down, breaking a branch before becoming entangled, too. Below all of them came Buzz, looking on as the car waited. He saw Andy walk by, holding Woody, and he seethed. Right as Maru had hit the ground, finally, he was running over to the car. Maru swore and dashed over, as well. He was barely able to jump in time, powering himself with some telekinesis, to reach the bumper (proving that this world was a bit older than his own time...I miss actual bumpers to stick you bumper stickers on, don't you?). He heard yelps as the car pulled away and found his comrades were left to deal with the Heartless. He swore loudly and grabbed them with telekinesis. With some effort, he yanked them all over, slamming them into the back of the light blue van.

"Sooner better than later, next time, Maru," Figment weakly mumbled, pulling his face from the side of the vehicle.

"And warning would help, too," added Elliott, rubbing his head. (He had hair, too, which was like Maru's only unstiffened.)

"Why in the galaxy are YOU guys here?" Buzz asked, holding onto the car as it drove. "This is dangerous!"

"We're quite used to danger by now, thank you," Maru assured him casually, nodding. He had his Keyblade out and was using it as a grip. It was wedged between the bumper and outside of the van. He held on with one hand while he reached into his cloak and pulled out his Full Heal, which he spritzed into his hair a bit. "I hope this doesn't undo the glue up there," he muttered before putting it back.

"You are strange people," Buzz observed.

"You have no idea," replied Maru wryly, this time talking about more than just himself.

- - -

The van ride was long, going into the night. When they finally stopped, they were at a gas station--"Dinoco" brand--in the middle of nowhere.

"FINally," groaned Figment, raising his paws to look at them. "I thought my arms were about to literally fall off."

"I thought my TAIL was," Elliott moaned, looking at what had been used as his gripping limb.

"My forearm is killing me," Maru muttered, massaging his left body part. To his dismay, it was useless, as hard plastic met him, foiling his efforts to soothe his muscles mysteriously existant beneath.

Buzz, with a grimly unhappy look on his face, hopped up onto the top of the car, using the rear window's wipers as a foothold. Maru went, "Uh-oh," retrieved his Keyblade and made chase.

Buzz dropped through the open sunroof onto the back seat in front of Woody. Woody seemed happy that his rival had arrived. "BUZZ! Buzz! Oh-hoh, MAN, am I glad to see you!" he said, laughing relievedly. He stood and picked off a fly that had somehow slammed into the spaceman's visor, rubbing the spot with his sleeve. "Now we can both go home and this whole thing will be cleared up, and Andy's toys won't want to kill me."

As Maru dropped down, as well, Buzz said, "On my planet, we refrain from physical violence and revenge."

"Well, that's nice," Woody began, but Buzz pressed up close to his face, cutting him off before he said anything else.

"But we're not ON my planet, ARE we?" Buzz asked in a dangerous voice.

In seconds, the two had begun to brawl. Maru growled and tried to part them, but he was thrown from the car, out the open door. Rolling over one another, the two toys followed him, continuing their fisticuffs beneath the car. When they heard Maru's grunt from landing on the concrete, Figment and Elliott jumped down from the bumper and ran over.

"STOP, YOU DUMBASSES!!" Maru roared, running after them to try again but missing them each time they rolled one way or another. "We've got to get back in the car before--"

"Next stop, Pizza Planet!!" Andy cheered as he jumped back in. The door slammed and the van drove off, leaving the small group of toys, frozen, alone.

"NO!!! NONONONONO!!!" Woody ran after the car a little before stopping and falling to his knees and crying. "I've been left behind..." With a horrified, baleful yell, he screamed, "I'M A LOST TOY!!"

Maru groaned and put his face into his hand. "--they leave without us..."

Buzz paid no heed and flipped open his arm-mounted mission computer. He began to make a log when Woody heard and came over. "CUT THAT OUT! It's all because of YOU and your STUPID SPACE RANGER THING!!" he accused, poking his chest and interrupting him.

"Well, if you hadn't pushed me out the window, we wouldn't be in this mess!!" Buzz fought back. "Do you realize that you've doomed us all!?" He walked out to look at the starry sky above. He held an arm out to it while he said, "Somewhere, out there, Emperor Zurg has created a weapon capable of destroying entire planets. Only I have information that could destroy it..." He brought his hand back to his chest at this. He turned around and pointed at Woody, ticked. "And now, because of YOU and this stupid planet I crashed on, I can't rendezvous with Star Command and give them the information!! We're DOOMED!!"

"Could you STOP it?!" Woody roared, waving his arms. "YOU-ARE-NOT-A-SPACE RANGER!! You are a toy! A child's PLAYTHING!!" He narrowed his eyes as he nearly insanely tried to convince Buzz of his true existence.

Buzz just shook his head and looked perturbedly at the taller toy, stating, "You are a sad, strange little man." Woody was about to strike him again.

Just then, a semi came, and Woody fell limp. Everyone else jumped out of the way. The tire almost ran over the pullstring cowboy, which made him sigh in relief when it stopped. Buzz came back and, depressed about his impending mission failure, sulked. Maru came over, arms crossed and head shaking. "Guys, quit it," he said. "We can't do anything while you're like this. We're miles from Andy, we're toys who have to play dead or hide whenever humans come and possibly see us, and you two are sitting here, doing nothing but fight." Followed by Figment and Elliott, he walked to Woody, who had stood up and was sulking, arms crossed as he leaned against the tire.

"Well, what use is it?" asked the cowboy. "He's never going to listen to reason with his stupid Space Ranger notion."

Maru shook his head. "You have to try," he said. "As much as I hate to say it, you're going to get nowhere alone. Not only will Andy miss whoever doesn't come back, but you'll NEVER get back by yourself before the move tomorrow." He grimaced. 'Shit, I feel like a hypocrite...' "You're mere toys. What can you do alone? Nothing. You'll have to work and rely on each other's talents to get back." He glanced behind him at his partners. 'After all, that's what I have to do...' Woody didn't appear to be listening much, or he was hiding it. "Besides, with the Heartless around...those black things..."

As if on cue, between the two gas pumps appeared more Heartless. Woody yelped and scrambled back, then growled as he felt his pullstring. "I...I can do just as good as Lightbeard over there!" he said, and he charged forwards to a Shadow, pullstring in hand. "Take THIS, you oversized amoeba thingy!!" he cried, and whipped out.

SMACK! And, lo and behold, it hit.

It slowly reeled back, Woody surpressing the voice mechanism from working with some will. Maru stood before him, Keyblade out. "I have no idea how you can do that, but leave this to the professionals," he said.

Just then, a yellow Toyota with a white and red Pizza Planet rocket decoration on the roof pulled up in the next lane over. Woody gasped and saw it. "That's IT!" he breathed. "I'll just hitch a ride--" He remembered Buzz. "Andy...BUZZ!" he called, turning his head to look back. Behind him, Maru and company fought off the Heartless.

Buzz didn't listen.

"Buzz, we've got a way to get back to Andy! C'mon!!"

No response.

"There's..." Woody looked at the rocket. "It's a SPACESHIP, Buzz, a spaceship!"

At this, Buzz looked up and around. "Really?" he asked. "Is it headed to a space station?"

"YES! One HECK of a space station!!" Woody semi-lied, beckoning. "C'mon, hurry!!"

"You don't need to tell me twice!!" Buzz said, trotting over.

Maru and company had just defeated the last of the Heartless. He looked over at Woody and was about to comment when he noticed something odd about the ground before the way to the covered pickup. It seemed as if it reflected the light in just a different way...and the Heartless stayed well away from it. He remembered seeing a practical comedy show through the windows of an electronics shop back home. "You're...WAIT!!" he cried, reaching after the two toys.

Meanwhile, in the convienence store/payment station, loud noises of things falling over and knocking around were heard. Someone yelped and someone else began to laugh. "DUUUUUDE! NICE PRANK!!" Pause. "Aw, CRUD!! Cut it out, dude, I got pizzas goin' cold in the car!!"

Suddenly, right when Woody and Buzz were about to cross the distance to the vehicle, it appeared a human man in a monsterous mask while wearing a black, skintight suit, burst from the concrete. The patch Maru had spotted was merely painted paper! The toys stopped and fell on their butts, yelping. "OHMYGOD!!" cried Buzz rapidly before he scrabbled to fire his "laser".

"BOO, possessed manchild's dolls!" the man greeted in an enthusiastic Jamaican accent. He held out a small, dark, white-and-red-labeled bottle, cheering, "HOO_RRAAAAAAAY_ BEER!!"

Maru heard a laugh and looked to the right and left. He grimaced and gripped his Keyblade. "One of YOU..." he muttered before looking more up and demanding, "WHO ARE YOU AND WHY ARE YOU HERE?!"

A black-cloaked figure appeared in a burst of smoke, making a handsign as it did. Maru's and the others' heads snapped over to look. "Awww, Nobody," she answered (the front of the cloak and the voice tipped off the gender). "And don't bother freezing, since I really don't apply in the 'human' category," she added. She sounded young and fiesty. "Besides, where's the fun in that?" She chuckled and shook her head as the beer-holding man began to disentigrate into Neoshadows. A hexagonal wall blocked their way to the truck. The woman laughed again. "Two pranks in one night--this is awesome!! But you'd better hurry and figure out something before my first victim recovers and your ride leaves you behind. Have fun! Ciao!!" She made another handsign and poofed away.

As the army of twenty Neoshadows poured forth, Maru grimaced and ran to protect the toys. "Great, they've got a ninja," he complained. "This joke here was part illusion--the paper was just lying there for us." He groaned and put a hand to his head. "I cannot WAIT to be able to detect stuff like that again..."

"BACK, evildoers!!" cried Buzz, attacking the beasts and making little progress.

"Uh, a little HELP, here?!" Woody called nervously, flailing his pullstring around as best as he could.

Maru looked at the two of them, then calmly closed his eyes. 'Toys...manmade creations...and both trying to find stability.' He clenched a fist. 'Like me. I was Giovanni's toy...I was his weapon, an adult's plaything.' He looked up and opened his eyes, nodding. 'They have a stability to find, at least until Andy grows up. They can get unlost.' "I think it is only fair that I see to it their journey is neither as long as mine or cut short by the Heartless," he muttered. He half-eyed as he watched Buzz say he'll defeat all of these minions of Zurg. "He's the primary one, though, since he really needs to get some sensed knocked into his annoying skull," he grumbled. "Plus, he can fight. Woody..." He looked over at the cowboy, helplessly hiding behind Buzz. "...He'll work for backup." He nodded and ran over, slashing Heartless in his way. "Woody, Buzz!"

They looked up at him for a second before paying attention to fighting again. "About TIME!" Woody complained.

"Reinforcements would be appreciated," Buzz admitted.

"Exactly what I want you two to do," Maru said, stopping. "We're fighting MY enemies right now, not yours--I'm better at fighting, too, so you should stick by me, anyway." He spun and two-handed slashed a Neoshadow as it popped up behind him, blasting it back. "However, I wouldn't put it past these beasts to steal the heart of Andy, which effectively kills him."

"Well, it DOES kill him, since the heart's a vital organ," Buzz corrected. "I'll admit you fight well, too, so I suppose we could fight together. You should feel honored to battle alongside a Space Ranger!!" He smirk-grinned heroically.

Woody rolled his eyes. "Well, I'll just run and hide, then," he said, turning to run to hide behind a gas pump. He instead slammed into Elliott's front. Elliott put his hands on his hips and looked disapprovingly down at the sheriff.

"First, I was talking about the heart that even you and Woody would have, Buzz," Maru said, "and second, I need the BOTH of you to help. Buzz will be the muscle, but you'll need to provide backup with that pullstring since Buzz's 'laser' doesn't work against Heartless. Put your heart into the whippings, like you did first, and it might work."

Woody gawked, then growled, "You crazy? I'm not working with--"

"GROW UP!!" Figment scolded him, jumping and slapping him. "We already had to do this with Maru! Don't make us waste any more of our readers' time on this!"

"Readers?" repeated everyone around.

Figment sweatdropped. "NEVERMIND!!" he cried, then turned to toss a card at another of the black monsters.

Woody frowned, but nodded. "Right. I've just got to...be a man. Yeah." He pulled out his string and got into position, swinging it around. "Look out, boys, 'cuz the sheriff's in town!!"

"Finally," Maru rolled his eyes, and he got into stance while, officially, Buzz became this world's temporary partner and his third. Woody stuck around as backup. Maru kept an eye on Buzz's status more than Woody's because of how much Buzz would be fighting compared to Woody. Woody decided to stay close by Buzz, probably to spite him. He was able to use his pullstring as a whip and as a flail, and he could grab Heartless and swing them around as a special attack. Maru noticed that the energy supplying these attacks for him came from the same source Buzz's did. He also noticed that now, if Buzz REALLY tried, he could sucessfully utilize his laser.

Together, the group defeated the swarm of Neoshadows. Maru decided to bring out Punjari to train her, as well. The card's effects transfered, since instead of being life-sized, she was turned instead into a pocket-sized plushie. A plushie with plastic spikes, but a plushie nonetheless. She took longer to enter Hyper Mode, but longer to call out. It appeared, also, that her aura was smaller than what he had expected when he called her out. 'I suppose that she must lose aura more than normal when just travelling,' he guessed. After the battle ended in record time, he felt disgusted in himself. 'Here I am, trying to regain my power, and I'm fighting in a SIX-MAN PARTY, not counting Navi. You'd think I'm starting to DEPEND on these people!' He looked away bitterly. 'Dammit, I'll be a hypocrite--I can't wait until I'm alone.' He noticed the wall fall--just as the pizza delivery dude said goodbye to the person at the counter.

"HURRY!!" Woody ran to the back.

"The cargo bay? I think the cockpit would be safer, Sheriff Woody," Buzz warned him, but to no avail. So, he went into the cab and buckled up, unseen to the driver behind a stack of pizzas.

Maru had to make a decision, fast. "...It'd be safer to go in the back, since we won't be seen as much," he reasoned, and he barely caught a ride with the truck (noticing only "YO" was visible on the back). His partners had split up on their own; Figment went with Buzz and Elliott with Maru.

The back of the truck was full of junk, and the teenager-piloted ride was bumpy and dangerous. At one point, a tool box began to slide right into Woody. Thankfully, Elliott came and protected him, grunting as he pushed back the weight of the metal container. Maru simply saw the ride as a way to practice his evasive tactics and managing himself on unstable ground.

- - -

After the ride, the group got out and gathered together. "Was your ride in the cargo bay pleasent, Sheriff?" Buzz asked chipperly.

Woody just glared.

Maru noticed the doors would open only for the humans. "We're too small to get in..." He then had an idea, looking into his pocket. He drew the "??" card and looked at it. "If this leaves my person, I'll grow back into a hu--normal size," he muttered. "But, wait, then I'll look suspicious, carrying toys around with me..."

"Look," pointed Elliott, and they turned to see some discarded food and drink containers by a garbage can.

Figment grinned. "Hey, you're actually clever!" he complimented, earning a bop on the head with Elliott's tail. "Honestly, we could go ninja-style with those things as cover!"

"Great thinking, large one," complimented Buzz before striding off to the garbage.

"Well, better than not getting in at all," Woody admitted, starting over. "C'mon, we might miss Andy again."

Maru mused over how quickly Snake would have come to this idea. '...Wait, maybe not so fast; after all, a plain cardboard box would look suspicious in a space-themed restraunt...'

He went over to the garbage can and decided to set up a save disk before anything. Then, taking a cup, he easily punched the bottom out and put it on. "How are we going to see through these?" he muffled, sweatdropping.

"No time!" Woody said, and he began scampering off under his cup. Buzz followed in a burger box, as did Figment. Elliott followed in an extra-large cup. They comically banged into each other once or twice, but they made it. They stopped when kids ran by at the entrance, then ran in before the doors closed. They then had to go down the entrance hall, ducking whenever they sensed kids running by in order to look like ordinary, inconspicuous garbage someone left smack in the middle of the floor. They were safely able to creep to between some arcade machines, where they took off their disguises.

Maru stuck his tounge out in disgust as he wiped off drink from his hair. "Blech, this is going to stink for an age," he grumbled.

"We've got scales, so we're okay-y!" sang Figment and Elliott, the latter surprised they sang the exact thing. Both recieved a smack on the head by Maru.

"Alright, Andy, Andy..." Woody leaned out and looked around, seeing some kids playing games and doing other strange things in the themed pizza place. Finally, he caught sight of a stroller and Andy walking by. "YES! Buzz, I found our ride home--a spaceship!"

At "spaceship," Buzz caught sight of a gigantic rocket-shaped object with glass sides. Inside were tons of green and blue things. "Does it have hyperdrive?" asked the Ranger.

"HyperACTIVE drive," Woody one-upped. "Alright, on three, we're all going to jump in the stroller," he said, beckoning behind him.

"Or whathaveyou," Maru went, watching as Buzz began to go towards the bigger ship. Woody turned to look and squeaked. Just then, the stroller went by, and so he was screwed. "We'll find another way, let's just get the poor fool!" Maru told him before they began to run after Buzz.

"Aww, I wanted to explore this place a little bit more," protested Figment. "It looks so COOL..."

They ran towards Buzz, who had crawled up the prize slot and into the machine. They did the same and landed among a field of green, three-eyed aliens. The aliens stared at them.

The toys stared at the aliens.

"Euh-WOOOOOOO-ooohh," the entire machineful went.

Maru sweatdropped. "Do you realize how undeniably creepy that is?" he asked none of them in particular.

"Buzz, c'mon," Woody said, pulling at his arm. "We've got to get to Andy before he leaves without us--AGAIN!!"

"But this seems like a much better ship, Sheriff," reasoned Buzz with a frown.

"Besides, they want to keep him," added Elliott, looking perturbed.

"Huh?" Woody looked back and saw the aliens were keeping ahold of Buzz. "HEY! Cut it out, guys!!"

"You cannot leave," said one alien.

"Only our leader decides," said another.

"Only it decides who goes and who stays," yet another finished.

"Who IS your leader?" Buzz asked, looking around at the homogenous group.

All of them pointed up. They craned their heads up, Maru grimacing. "The CLAAAAAAW..."

Suddenly, a ruccus began outside, accompanied by a prepubescent boy's evil laugh. Woody gasped and looked outside. "Oh, no..." he said with dread.

Maru looked up and over. "Who's that?" he asked, indicating a buzz-cutted boy in jeans and a black shirt bearing the Zero skull that was walking towards the machine. (Seriously, it's SOME skateboard company's; I was surprised when I saw the exact same logo in THPS3's Create-a-Skater.)

"Sid, the sadistic next-door neighbor kid who TORTURES innocent toys!" answered Woody worriedly. "We've got to HIDE!!" He dove down beneath the sea of squeaky toys. Maru nodded and his group did the same. They had to pull down Buzz before he was seen.

"Let's see if THIS one works," Sid sneered, walking over and popping a quarter into the claw game.

"Look,"

"the claw,"

"it moves!"

"Just pick one and go away, just pick one and go away," prayed Woody.

The claw stopped and lowered down to the alien directly atop Buzz's helmet. "It has chosen!" went one of the aliens.

"Goodbye, my friends!" bade the alien, facedown as it rose up. "I am off to a better life!"

"Yeah, right," Woody muttered.

"Awesome," Sid cheered as he got the alien. He was about to leave, but he spotted Buzz's mug. "No way!! A Buzz Lightyear?!" he cried. He grinned evilly and popped in another quarter. "This'll be too easy!"

He was apparantly an expert at the claw game, since the claw began to come down right over Buzz, who had to remain still as per the rules of this world. Woody, hidden, was currently trying to unfasten the lock on the slot used to load the machine while keeping a hold of Buzz.

Maru bit his lip, then remembered something. "Wait, my Keyblade!" he muttered, summoning it. With difficulty from the mass of toys around him, he aimed it and fired a beam of light at the lock. CLICK! The latch sprang open and Woody opened it with a shove, almost falling out.

"Thanks, Maru!" Woody said, but the victory was short-lived. Buzz had been successfully grabbed up, and he was being carried. Woody had to hold on, with the others helping and forming an animate object chain. The aliens had other plans, however.

"The Claw has chosen!"

"He must go!"

"He has been chosen!"

They bustled and pushed about, fighting to break the grip that was causing the machine to back up a little (to Sid's displeasure).

Maru growled. "Get AWAY, you imbeciles!!" he roared.

Elliott had an idea. He took a deep breath and expelled the best flame he could at the hands of the aliens. They shied away silently, and the war shifted back into the good guys' favor. "Let's get out of here!!" he said, and they fought towards the loading hatch.

"STUPID MACHINE!!" Sid yelled.

"Excuse me, kid, you having trouble?" came a kind woman's voice.

Maru widened his eyes. "Her again!" he breathed.

Sid looked back around and grumpilly nodded. "Yeah, this machine isn't working! I earned that Buzz Lightyear!!" he complained.

Maru fought harder, yanking with the extra juice of some telekinesis.

"Okay, lemme help," the cloaked woman went, and she made a couple handsigns. "The machinery just needs a bit more pulling power, that's all," she said.

Suddenly, Woody was yanked from Figment's grasp (the chain went Buzz-Woody-Figment-Maru-Elliot). "WOODYYYY!!" cried Maru.

"Goodbye!"

"You have been chosen!"

"You cannot stop this fate!"

"Not even Chuck Norris can defy the Claw once it has chosen!"

Woody was helpless as he yelled, pulling up through the squeaky toys while holding onto Buzz's foot. "GUYYYYSS!!" He had to limp when he was revealed, however.

Maru growled and fought his way up to see the surface. He gaped when he saw that four thick chains were now attatched to the claw and reeling it up. They were each in the positions that the claw could go, forming the x-y axis it went along above. He glanced over and saw the cloaked woman wave at him and giggle evilly. "You--" he began, but Sid turned to see and he ducked down to avoid being seen.

"Sweet, double prizes!!" Sid crowed as the two were dropped down into the prize slot.

"Not sweet, double prizes," Figment muttered. Now that they were disconnected to the claw, they were relatively unmatched on their way to the hatch, which they were going towards that moment.

"Thanks for fixing this piece of junk," Sid said as he ran off with his catch. To them, he said menacingly, "Let's go home and play..."

Maru barged out of the machine and dropped to the ground, followed by his cohorts. "You b--" he began.

"Ah-ah-ahh," stopped the woman, waggling a finger. "There're still children around!"

Maru growled, as did Elliott. "Stop this, right now," went the green one, glaring. "Those two are Andy's toys! He'll be heartbroken if they're gone!"

"Sorry, I don't speak wannabe-dragontounge," informed the hooded ninja girl. "But if you want 'em, then go and get 'em. Good luck finding a ride, though!!" she laughed as she used another jutsu to disappear.

"Damn her," Maru grunted, swinging his Keyblade through the air. He put it away and sighed aggrivatedly. Crossing his arms, he reluctantly admitted, "She's got a point, though..." He looked around. "Where--"

"THERE! THERE! TWELVE O'CLOCK!!" Figment practically screamed, making Maru and Elliott jump a real inch. He was pointing towards the innards of the building (they were outside at the moment). "I can sense his twisted imagination like a radar, it's so strong!!" He frowned in ambivalence. "I don't know whether to commend him for it or curse him..."

"C'mon, then," Maru said, and they dashed off.

Sid was off in the bathroom, leaving his messenger bag sitting at a table. After going through a round of Heartless while skirting the edges of the arcade halls to avoid being run over or seen, Maru, Figment, and Elliott made there. They barely had the time to dive into a different pocket (hoping that he wouldn't look in there) before its owner returned. He frowned at the extra weight. "Huh?" he went, then shrugged. "Those guys must be heavier than I thought. Oh, well!" He grabbed his skateboard and ran out of the front entrance. Once on the road, he dropped it and started home. (One cannot help but wonder at this boy's stamina, seeing as he's at LEAST a mile away from the suburbs.)

Maru grimaced as he gripped the cloth of the bag, the roar of polyurethene (or whatever it's called) against blacktop grating his eardrums. "Why have I got the worst feeling that this is going to take longer than I thought?" he muttered. Being around a child reminded him. "Ash..." He looked out the open top of the bag at the starry sky, the shadow of a telephone pole occasionally blocking them out. "..."

- - -

Who thinks they got all the references I put into here? X3 I PROMISE, this one will take LESS time. Honestly. Oh! Almost forgot! Voila:

OMAKE!!

*-*-*

FerreTrip: *sits at computer on his day off of school, thinking* ...Uh...Crap, can't think of an omake...

Maru: *walks over, still in toy form, to end of his bed behind him, arms crossed* What horrible things are you doing to me THIS time? MORE losing my character? MORE half-assing me through the story? MORE making me sit through parts of the movie as a minor character instead of being the MAIN character, like I SHOULD be?

FT: *turns around, half-eyeing and flattening his ears a little bit (he's an anthropomorphic ferret, as his name implies)* Look, I'm just giving this a shot. Would you rather have gone through the crap-assed story you WERE going to go through?

Maru: *shrugs* Well, it could have gone a lot better. Plus, it'd've expanded that witch's character a lot more.

FT: *shrugs back* That's what you get when you try to write in the middle of college app days.

Maru: Which you SHOULDN'T be going through right now, lazyass.

FT: *growls and leers, lowering face to Maru* You're a seven-inch-tall toy, I'm a 6-foot-long ferret. You REALLY want to annoy me like that?

Maru: *hops down to floor, removes card, grows back to normal size (5'6" or so). Summons Keyblade in one hand* Yes. *attacks*

FT: KYAAAAHH!! *grabs own weapon, FerreStick, and blocks* NOT IN THE HOUSE!! *runs out of room and down stairs*

Maru: *follows after, still attacking* AND THINK BEFORE YOU MAKE AN OMAKE ON A DAY YOU SHOULD BE DOING OTHER THINGS, YOU IRRESPONSIBLE, HUMORLESS BAG OF TRIPE!!

FT: *runs out into late Wisconsin January, now just running* QUAAAAAAAAAAAAAHH!!

*-*-*

*sports a lump and a bandage on his head, blanket wrapped around himself, wavy-waterfall crying* I'll keep that in mind, Maru...Owch...*sneezes, gets gunk all over his older-than-circuitry computer* O.O OH SHI--


	25. 13, 14, 15: Phillips Headcase Screwball

A while later, Sid finally arrived home. He flopped his bag on his bed while turning on a light at his desk. His room appeared dirtier and had a darker, more macarbe theme than Andy's probably had when it was in full splendor. Across the way, through the window, Andy's room could be seen. Maru took the chance to crawl out of the pocket and hide beneath the beneath the bed, Figment and Elliott following him. He had already seen the horror done by Sid's dog, who used the squeaky toy alien as a chew toy (fittingly, in a sense, though), and he didn't care to see the transplanting of the head of his sister's innocent girl doll and a pteradactyl toy.

"What the HECK happened to HIM?!" Figment asked. He motioned around. "This is amazing, but so creepy!"

"Bumped his head when he was little, perhaps?" Maru suggested.

"Pretty hard, I'd say," Elliott grumbled. He grimaced when he heard the doll's original owner's scream upon seeing the new doll.

Sid then took out Buzz and Woody, saying, "I wonder what I'm going to do with the spaceman and his little cowboy friend. Maybe I could use you in an explosives quality control test for the good of mankind!" He laughed evilly. "Oh, well." He tossed them onto the desk and yawned before crawling into bed. "I'm pooped. Smell ya in the morning!" He crawled into bed in his clothes and was soon sleeping like a baby.

Maru ran out onto the ugly, green, marble-line-textured carpet. He frowned at the room around him before trotting to the door. It was shut, and his Keyblade made no difference in this status. "Dangit," he swore under his breath. "I don't want to risk trying to change size, either."

"We can't do much of anything, Maru," Figment said, walking over. He was frowning and crossing his arms. "We're stuck."

"Not unless we, like, form a toy chain and open the door," Elliott said. He glanced over at the bed's underside again nervously. "Did you hear something?" he muttered.

Nobody heard him because Buzz had come over, followed by Woody. "Grand idea, again, Elliott!" he complimented loudly, drowning what he'd said. "Now, let's get started. We should go from biggest to smallest..." He looked around.

Suddenly, Woody heard something. "Who's there?" he asked, creeping over. He picked up a pencil to arm himself and walked over to the bed. He heard a louder noise and, shaking, picked up a flashlight. He aimed it underneath the bed and turned it on. He calmed upon seeing a baby's head (with what looked like hair plugs) in profile. "Oh, phew," he said.

Then the baby slowly turned its head and came out to reveal an eye missing and a body made from Erector set pieces. Gasping in horror, Woody backed away. Around them, more mutant toys came: A jack-in-the-box with a Frankensteinesque hand instead of a real body, a pair of legs attatched to a fishing rod, and what looked like a combination of cartoon arms, a Ken doll's head, and even a rolling noise toy (dunno how to describe it), the latter of whom turned off Woody's flashlight. Woody retreated to the others, scared out of his wits.

"What ARE these things?!" Buzz asked.

"Cannablistic toys, I bet!" Woody answered. "Special Effects-san, Buzz, GET THEM AWAY FROM US!!"

Maru fumed. "Would people just get the hint I don't like being called other names than my own?!" he grouched. He spun his Keyblade around anyway, getting into stance. "Regardless, let's get away from these guys--I'm not in the mood to try peace talks if they can't or won't talk." He explained sometime later that if they hadn't really said anything to new toys at all, they either were not nice toys or they were mute.

The next minute or so consisted of the group of five making their way to the desk again. Maru swung out with his Keyblade and Buzz, being pushed and controlled against his will by Woody, used his karate chop action. The toys backed away from them with each attack, clearing a path for the group. When they reached the desk, they got up onto it with a little difficulty and camped out there for the rest of the night, too afraid to go back down. (Well, Woody and Buzz were. At least Woody.) Maru and his dragon allies had to find a place to hide, since they were not too keen on the idea of being tortured in the morning. So, they found a pile of papers messily arranged and hid under it. (As well, Maru set up a save disk beneath the papers.)

When morning came, Maru, Figment, and Elliott woke up a little late. When they stood up and looked about, the door was open. Buzz and Woody were elsewhere: Buzz was in a corner of the room, removing suction darts from his body after being used for target practice; and Woody was in the hallway by a bowl of milk. A burnmark adorned his head, which he worriedly rubbed, wondering if it was permanent.

"Sheriff, I wouldn't worry about that, right now," said Buzz. "I'd worry more about getting out of this nightmarish place."

"Agreed," Woody nodded, unhappy. He walked over to the stairs before yelping and running. "SCUUUUD!!" he screamed, waving his arms. Not far behind him came the barking bull terrier.

"RUN!" Buzz ordered, and everyone scattered. Maru ran back into Sid's room, Buzz dashed into the upstairs living room (go figure), Figment scampered into the room of Hannah, Sid's little sister, and Elliott followed Woody into the hall closet. They were able to shut the door on Scud and get him out. Maru had retreated to Sid's bed, out of reach, and the dog never thought to check any of the other rooms. He went back downstairs, growling.

Maru frowned, unhappy at the dog's behavior. "This house has serious responsibility issues concerning the parents," he commented. He turned and suddenly found a plethora of Heartless on the bed. There weren't that many different kinds--only Neoshadows, Yeoman, Bouncy Rubballs, and, to his delight and dismay, a Terroge. He nodded and got out Punjari. "While I'm here, a little training couldn't hurt..." He looked at his hand. "Besides, I think I'm going to experiment with one of my moves..."

During the brawl, he tried using Ice Shard a few times. Unhappy with the similarity it had to Ember in terms of method of attack--a shot projectile--he decided to play around with it. Nothing he thought up seemed to fit right, though. He kept an eye on Punjari while he went along, giving commands and calling her out of Hyper Mode as fast as he could. Navi helped out by alerting him whenever someone came behind his back while commanding or calling.

When he had to recall Punjari to avoid losing experience from her most recent opponent, he was about out of ideas. "Damn, I wish I could figure something out," he muttered, putting Punjari's ball away and bringing out his own Terroge. "What haven't I tried? I've tried a beam, an enhanced slash, even a field attack like Spikes!" He pointed and ordered, "Terroge, use Focus Punch on that look-a-like!"

An adorable plushie-version Terroge, having been listening to Maru's efforts through his ball (which is possible, since trainers often give orders before throwing and they're obeyed), growled in thought while launching the attack. After finishing off the Heartless Pokémon and watching in discomfort as it disentegrated away, he suggested, "How about an area attack around you?"

Maru shook his head, running atop a Bouncy Rubball into some Neoshadows. "Tried that, it didn't feel right and didn't work as well..." He righted himself after being thrown away and landed on the bouncy surface of the bed. "It needs SOMEthing...!"

"MARU!!" Navi called behind him.

WHAM! Around him came Terroge's mighty paws as he protected his trainer from sneak-assault by Neoshadows. His fingers barely touched as they made a circle around Maru.

When they came down, though, it was as if Maru was transported to another world. Black surrounded him, though he was strangely lit. Also, he was normal again, not plastic. The difference was interesting.

Before him floated that Mew from Hawaii. It glowed light blue, like ice, before Maru suddenly felt something click. While he blinked his eyes wide, the scene disappeared and he was a toy again. He narrowed his eyebrows and, mentally locking onto whatever it was that had clicked, said, "Paws away NOW."

Terroge obliged, and Maru instantly raised his left hand up in front of him, as if summoning a Barrier. "Ice Shard!" he cried. In equal spacing around him appeared six tiny puffs of cold air. They slowly rotated counter-clockwise around Maru for a moment, doing nothing, before quickly spinning clockwise with decent-sized shards of sharp ice appearing from the clouds. They were quite plain, though, and they subliminated away after about two rapid rotations, striking any who just came near. The shards also flew out slowly during the rotation, expanding the circle to a good medium Keyblade's radius around him. The spinning began a half second after Maru lowered his left hand.

Confused, Maru blinked at the attack. "Well, that isn't too different, but..." He furrowed his brow. "That felt...right..." He shook his head. "Regardless, let's get this finished up, then we'll check up on the others, Terroge."

"Right!" went the Dragon-type. He punted a rising Neoshadow away, baring his teeth. He was glad when the battle ended; "This room creeps me right the heck out!" was his comment before returning to his ball.

When Maru at last re-exited the room, he saw the doorway to the hall closet open. Elliott and Woody, the latter covered in a strand of Christmas lights, came tumbling out. "Well, that was pleasent," joked Elliott, getting up and brushing himself off. He offered his tail to Woody, who took it with thanks.

"Where's Figment?" asked Maru, arms crossed. Navi followed behind him, desiring some fresh air.

"How should I know? It's not my day to watch little pink cardshark dragons," Woody replied. He heard Hannah's voice come from her room.

"Would you like more tea, Mrs. Nezbit?...There you go. And what about you, Ms. Ambercrombie?...Oh, alright."

Woody peeked through the door, which was opened a crack more when Elliott pushed it a smidgen. Both froze at the sight, Woody gasping. Maru and Navi ran/flew over to investigate.

Sitting at a small table with some other harmed toys, including a headless teddy bear referred to by Hannah as Marie Antoinette, was a one-armed Buzz, straw sunhat on his helmet, pink apron (complete with frills) around his body, and teacup in attatched hand. Nearby was Figment, holding as perfectly still as he possibly could while wearing a dress. His held pose included a sly smirk that fit him very well.

Dumbfounded at Buzz's condition, Maru stood, jaw open a little. Navi gasped and flew into his collar, flying out a second later with the Pokédex. "C'mon, camera, camera...THERE!!" She snapped a photo with the cell phone-like device, the noise knocking Maru out of his stupor.

"Navi!" he scolded, then saw the picture. He raised an eyebrow. "...Nice shot."

"Thanks!" Navi shut the 'dex and put it back in his collar. "I use it to snap shots of important parts of our adventure thus far for journalistic use. It's great!"

Maru nodded. "We've got to get her attention so we can rescue the poor things, though," he said.

"On it," Woody told him before cupping a hand around his mouth and calling, in a falsetto voice, "Hannah! Oh, Hannah!"

"Mom?" Hannah turned her head to the door for a second before walking out. "Coming!" She went downstairs.

Maru and Elliott were crouched behind the pile of lights Woody had brought with him (which the bringer hid inside). They got up again when the coast was clear and advanced into the room. "Buzz! Buzz, are you alright?" Woody asked.

"GONE!!" cried Buzz abruptly, stretching his arm out before banging the cup on the table and bowing his head. "It's all...GONE...ALLofit...OUTthewindow..." He sounded like a drunken fool.

Figment trotted around him to Woody, who asked, "What the heck?" quietly. Figment just shrugged. To Buzz, he said, "Buzz, listen, we've got to get you outta here."

Buzz looked at him and asked him, "YOU SEE THE HAT? YOU SEE THE APRON?! I'M MRS. NEZBIT!!" he told him. "I'm just sitting . here, drinking tea with these LOVELY ladies," he said, and introduced them while holding his detatched arm. He whispered something to Woody that Maru didn't hear while the other toys waved at them.

"I think he's gone to the birds," Figment said, raising an eyeridge.

"Buzz, snap out of it!" Woody shook him.

Buzz started spouting some more nonsense and did so until Woody threw up his visor, slapped him across the face, and snapped the helmet back down again. Buzz sat there, blinking, for a moment, before saying, normal-voiced, "Thank you, I needed that. I, uh, don't know what came over me. Sorry."

They left the room, Woody removing the apron around Buzz. "What's wrong, Buzz?" Woody asked.

"You're a bit strange, but this takes the cake," Figment commented.

"Look who's talking, transvestite," Navi said wryly.

"From Transylvania!!" Figment finished proudly, hands on his hips.

Maru stumbled, avoiding an anime fall mid-walk. "Don't even THINK about doing the Time Warp," he decided to say, pointing at Figment.

Elliott took this moment to quickly, skillfully, undo the back of Figment's dress with his tailtip. "HEEEYYY!!" protested the littler dragon as his garment was lifted away.

Elliott shook his head. "Later."

Figment appeared to understand at least this much and shut up.

"Woody, you were right," Buzz said to Woody as they made their way back into Sid's room. "I'm a fake, a sham...I'm nothing more than a toy." He drooped his head in depression.

"What happened?" Maru asked. "How'd you finally figure it out?"

"I went to hide in that room there," pointed Buzz, using his held other arm, to the room he'd hidden in, "and saw a commercial for myself on the tv in there. Foolishly, I tried to fly to that window there, but..." He lowered his detatched arm that had been pointing to the window down, down, down, until he just tossed it up while going, "KRRSSSSHHHHH!!"

Maru caught the limb, which appeared inanimate, with a face of concern before realizing what he held. He looked at it, sweatdropped, and handed it back to Buzz. (*looks at 'handed' two words later and laughs at his truly unintentional pun in his search for synonyms*)

"Look, Buzz," Woody said, trailing the lights as he reentered the room, "you've got to pull it together. We've got to get to Andy's house!" He left the spaceman in the middle of the floor while he stepped up to the desk. He gasped. "Andy's room! It's right across from here!"

"What's the use? Aren't they gone today?" Maru asked.

"No, TOMORROW is the moving day, someone must have mistold you," Woody explained.

Maru jumped up onto the desk after him. "Well, what's the plan?" he asked him.

"Great, you can help," Woody said, and he called over. "HEY!! GUYS!! HEEEY!!"

Slink walked by the window and raised his eyebrows. "Woody?" he said quietly. "Hey, guys, it's Woody!!" he called over his shoulder. Some of the other toys rushed over to the window. "WOODY!!" Slink called happily. "I KNEW you were alright!! And Maru, too!! What're you doin' over at Sid's house, though?" He raised an eyebrow and tilted his head at this.

"It's a long story," Woody said, smiling. He swung the lights over. "Catch!!"

Showing surprising strength for a toy, Woody managed to make it all the way across. Slink caught it happily, but then Potato Head stepped over. "Wait," he said. "Where's Buzz?"

"He's here, worry not," Maru called after.

"Was I TALKIN' to you, Special Effects--" Suddenly, an unseen force popped his mouth from his body, making it land on the windowsill. Taken aback by this, Potato Head shut up while retreiving his mouth.

Maru lowered his arm, calm-faced while anger-veining. "Thank you."

"But I still don't believe you until I see 'im," Potato Head said, narrowing his eyes and putting his hands at his hips.

"Uh...uh..." Woody bent over to see Buzz on the floor, still depressed. He was futilly playing with his arm, using it as an airplane that crashed.

"He doesn't look too great," Maru muttered.

"What's the hold-up?" asked Hamm from the other end of the lights.

"He's coming, don't worry," Woody lied, then turned again and said, "Buzz, gimme a hand, wouldja?"

Buzz obliged.

Maru smacked his forehead. "Oh, dear God..."

Woody looked unimpressed at this. "Thanks, Buzz. Really."

Suddenly, probably attracted by his depression, Heartless appeared around Buzz, who didn't appear to care that his life was in danger. Maru grimaced and hopped down there. "Good luck, Woody," he bade over his shoulder.

He got down and stood in front of Buzz. He decided to let Terroge, the pokémon of his who had the highest HP left, have a little more fun, as well; besides, it would mean an even group of four, which was what it (mostly) was before. The four circled around Buzz. "Buzz, c'mon, snap out of it, wouldja?" asked Figment without looking while he cast Fire at a Blue Rhapsody. A sigh.

"What happened to that annoyingly heroic guy from before?" Elliott asked. He repelled a Large Body, front-on.

"He fell with me," Buzz replied.

"So you're just going to give up?" Maru asked. He slashed a Neoshadow away. "That's it?"

"That's it."

Terroge groaned. "This guy's hopeless," he growled, swiping a Scratch at an unfortunate Air Soldier.

"That he is," Maru agreed, looking at him over his shoulder with a concerned face. 'Wow...This is different. I've seen people depressed before, but so see someone go from one end of the spectrum to the other...it's just...wow...' He nodded resolutely. 'I'm going to help him seriously, now. I'm hating this feeling and want it to end.' He turned back and continued the battle.

The fight lasted for a minute, but it was hectic since Maru had to make sure Buzz was alright. He sustained minimal damage thanks to the quartet's efforts. At the end, Terroge crowed that he'd gained a level, something he'd been doing each time. "Not much longer, now," he said, yet again.

"Until what?" Maru asked, grabbing his ball.

Terroge flashed a shiny grin. "You'll see," he sang before he was returned.

Woody sighed dejectedly as the other toys dropped the strand of Christmas lights. They'd seen through his act with Buzz's arm and thought he'd really murdered him, now.

"Slink! Slink, please!" Woody begged his friend.

Slink merely sadly looked at him before closing his eyes and pulling down the blinds.

Woody fell to his knees and whimpered. "Why me...?" he asked nobody.

Now that the Heartless were gone, Woody came down to join the others, holding Buzz's arm. "That trick never works well, anyway," he dismissed, smiling sadly while holding Buzz's arm.

Suddenly, the mutant toys from last night came out and swarmed around Buzz, to the surprise of the others. Nobody had a chance to intervene, and Woody had Buzz's arm yanked out of his grasp. Maru tried to whack some away, but they were unfazed. Then, suddenly, the group cleared from Buzz, who sat there, marveling at his reattatched arm.

Woody and the others stopped, surprise on their faces. "They...AREN'T cannibals?" Woody asked.

Maru looked around and saw the doll and pterdactyl toy from last night, each back together in their rightful pieces. "They're repairmen," he corrected. "They fixed Buzz and I suppose any other unfortunate toy that falls victim to Sid's viciousness."

Woody breathed a sigh of relief. "Phew! Wow, sorry, there, guys, but you kinda...no offense, creeped us out..." he admitted, smiling a bit. "Say...you guys know any--" The mutant toys abruptly scattered. "Hey, hey! I'm not gonna hurt you!" Woody said. Then he saw Maru and the dragons making a beeline to get under the bed. "Wha?"

"Sid!" said Figment.

In a blink of an eye, Buzz was in his normal pose and Woody was limp. Sid came in, holding a box in victory over his head. "AAAWRIIGHT!! It CAME!! It finally CAME!!" He cackled as he ripped open the package. Then, spilling styrofoam peanuts everywhere, he brought out the item: "The Big One!" It was a Buzz-sized rocket explosive. "Now..." Sid turned and looked around at his toys. "...should I play with the cowboy? Or...No!!" He grabbed up Buzz, grinning with his braceface at the toy. "I'll send the rocketman into space!!" he decided. Cackling more, he grabbed some black tape and attatched the rocket to Buzz's back.

BOOOOM-OOM!! All of a sudden, the heavens opened up and let down the wet. "Awwwwwww, MAAN!!" Sid whined, going over and banging his head on the (now-closed) window. He sighed. "Oh, well." He turned and said, in mock-PA system announcer voice, "We regret to inform you that the launch has been delayed due to unseasonable weather. It has been rescheduled to tomorrow. Forecast:" Here, after putting down Buzz and, for some reason, imprisoning Woody in a plastic crate with a toolbox on top of it, he set his alarm clock and set it on the desk. "Sunnyy...Sweet dreams!" he wished jeeringly before leaving the room.

Maru and company came out from underneath the bed and looked at the new situation they were in. Yet again, Sid closed the door, and only those three were insufficient to open it. Besides, with it being broad daylight, they couldn't very well sneak out undetected. Scud was another factor, as they had discovered earlier. "What are we going to do?" asked Maru, looking around at his comrades. "We've got all day and all night, apparantly, to sit on our butts, don't we?"

"We did ENOUGH of that back in Hawaii," Figment said.

"Well, I WOULD have liked to sunbathe some more," Elliott muttered, making Maru shake his head.

"Why don't we look around and see if we can dig up a Navi-G?" suggested Navi.

"Might as well," Maru shrugged. He pulled out the tracker and dropped his jaw. "You're joking."

Navi flew over to it and made a tiny gasp, herself. "It's...right in this room?" she asked. She flew up and looked left and right. "Well, if it's here, then I'll just have to find it!" she declared.

"Yeah, seeing as this tracker only uses a hot-cold system," Maru said, putting it away. "It's as hot as it could be, but it only says it's within a radius that so happens to be as big as this room." He crossed his arms and groaned. "Cid, I've got some words with you next we meet," he mumbled.

"Hey, guys?"

The four came out from under the bed and looked up at Woody, who was holding the bars of his prison. "What is it, Woody?" asked Maru.

Woody sighed, looking depressed, too. "You're...getting out of here, right?" he asked.

"Hopefully in a few moments, yes," replied the Keyblader, nodding. "Why?"

Woody smiled wryly as he leaned back against the other side of the crate. "Look after Andy, would you?" he asked. "At least for a little while, until he finds a good replacement favorite toy." He bowed his head and closed his eyes.

Maru facepalmed. "Not you, too," he moaned. "Look," he said, looking up again, "two things: One, we're going to be coming back. I don't EVER ditch people in situations like this; that's the coward's way out, and I'm not a coward. I'm a warrior." Slowly, Woody looked up as he spoke. "And second, you're NOT going to be destroyed--you're getting back to Andy tomorrow one way or another, whether Sid likes it or not." Maru cut his hand across the air at that part.

"Besides, he's come too far to fail, now, 'cuz he'd get really pissed," Figment added, and for once, he didn't get smacked by Maru for joking at his expense.

Woody gave a small smile and chuckle. "Well, if you guys say so," he said. He shook his head and chuckled more. "Geeze, look at me! I'm turning into Buzz, here, all...what's the word..."

"Emo?" supplied Maru, Navi and Figment at the same time.

Woody snapped his fingers. "THAT'S it, thanks," he said, nodding.

"We'll be back soon," Maru said. "We'll just get the item we want from here, run out, and get it looked at. We'll return as soon as we can. In the meantime, keep an eye on Blightyear over there," he instructed, pointing at Buzz. Buzz was slumped over against the window, rocket pressing on it and casting his body in shadow. His green accents glowed very slightly.

"Right," Woody confirmed, giving them a thumbs-up. "Good luck."

"Thank you," Maru said, bowing quickly.

"C'mon!" Navi squeaked, and the group started their search.

While searching the cluttered room of Sid Phillips, they found battles in store for them every so often. The room was separated into five areas: The bed, the central floor and beneath the bed, the corner to the left of the desk, the desk itself, and the rest of the room. The desk was the only safe place, hence why Maru had set up the save disk there. During the search, Navi was out, ready to light up near spots she had a hunch about.

It didn't take long to find what they were looking for. While exploring the central floor area, Navi flew underneath the bed. "Guys, I think something's under here," she called.

Maru trotted over. "Well, Sid's toys are under there, right?" he asked.

"Yeah," Navi said. "In fact...Hey, guys! Any one of you see any brightly-colored, squishyish object?" she called.

It took a moment, but slowly, Babyface, the Erector set/baby doll mutant, crawled out. In his claw was a small bit of something. He dropped it in Maru's outstretched hands, and he thanked him. As Babyface departed, Maru examined the item. He started.

"What's wrong? Navi asked, floating over.

"It's broken!" Maru cried. Indeed, the item was no bigger than his entire hand, and jagged ends surrounded it. "It definitely looks like a Gummi, but it's too small to be a real Navi-G." He examined it some more, thinking for a moment. "...Looks about a fourth of the full size. I'd be seriously surprised if Cid couldn't attach all the broken pieces together again." He looked around. "Well, we've got all day or until the demon child returns..."

"This sucks," Figment groaned.

"We've got to do this, though," Elliott sighed. Maru translated.

"Then let's go," Maru said, putting the piece in his left legging cargo pocket.

They found the next piece on the bed, underneath Sid's pillow. This one filled Maru's right legging cargo pocket. They had to fight off another Terroge, though, which Maru gladly defeated with his own. "I'm getting used to fighting myself," Terroge commented afterwards.

"Good, since that's all we're seeing lately," Maru chuckled, returning him.

The third chunk was in the other side of the room. Navi flew around a maze of junk on the floor, which Maru grumblingly navigated. "This kid ever clean his room?" Figment asked, coming along with. Elliott felt he was too clumsy.

"Probably not," answered Maru, wrinkling his nose as he stepped in some gunk. "Yuck. Sooner we leave, the better." When they reached the spot the piece lay, Figment had to creep in and grab it. He kept it with himself.

Finally, the fourth one they discovered in the corner of the room. After a small, normal battle, Navi flew around and found it behind a poster. "How'd it get THERE?" she asked, flying behind it and, with difficulty, retreiving it. She dropped it as soon as she could, the piece being caught by Elliott, who kept it in his armor.

"Maybe it fell there when a corner came loose and he repaired it since then?" guessed Figment.

Maru shrugged. Now that they had all four pieces, they made their way to the save disk. Before leaving, they said goodbye to Woody. The dragons left first, then Maru. Before he went, though, he heard someone grumbling.

"...hid them better..."

"Mm?" Maru leaned over and looked over at the other side of the room, where Figment got his piece. He heard a squeak and saw a cloud of smoke rise up breifly from the area. He narrowed his eyes. "Little wench, she hid them," he realized. Shaking his head, he stepped into the circle. "Wasted a good ten minutes of our time..."

*****OBTAINED Navi-G Pieces*****

**Bit 14: Quickest Radient Garden Pitstop in History!**

"OH!" Merlin yelped in surprise as Maru, Figment, and Elliott came down onto his room's save disk and ran out as soon as they could. He was reading a book currently, and he scrambled with it after jumping. When he had it again, albiet upside-down, he adjusted his glasses and glared a little after them. "What's the hurry?" he asked.

"We're just running in and out again," Figment answered behind him before he jumped and closed the door behind them all, swinging on the handle.

Maru scampered along to Cid's as fast as he could. Elliott asked him to slow down more than once. When they got there, he stopped and panted a few moments. He was joined by Figment and Elliott seconds later.

Cid turned from the computer to look at them, raising an eyebrow as he glanced them all up and down. He crossed his arms and leaned back in his chair. "Y'know, we've got something right outside in the study. Called a save disk. You should use it sometime."

Maru widened his eyes at this, then narrowed them as he leered at Cid. "Oh...NOW you tell me," he breathed.

"Now that I...think about it, I...DID see a...save disk-like thing...behind a bookcase..." Figment recollected.

"Yeah, that's the one," Cid smirked. "But by all means, come in here looking like you ran a marathon nonstop. You look flippin' hilarious." He got shot a breif glare by Maru before the Keyblader stopped, cursing himself for rising to the bait.

After regaining their breath, the group handed over the chunks of Navi-G. "We found them whilst exploring Suburban Toyland, and we would like to have it installed before we get back there," Maru explained.

"You want me to install this so you can get BACK there?" Cid asked, raising an eyebrow. "What, you guys have time to kill for some reason?"

"I don't know about you, but I can't go to sleep two hours after waking up," Maru told him, crossing his arms and half-eyeing him.

Cid chuckled and shook his head. "Aw, nevermind," he said. "Alright, I'll fix this up quick as I can. It'll take at least half an hour total, including installation, but I can't say for sure. Why don't you do something for a little bit and then come back here?"

Maru nodded. "Yes, we shall," he answered. He bowed, thanking the machinist, before turning around and walking out. Figment and Elliott, who was ecstatic to be soft and fleshy again, however breif, followed.

As usual, they hit the shops and found nada in terms of equipment. Maru then decided to talk to Merlin about his experience with Ice Shard. Merlin told him he would have to experiment with it somehow. After that, the group decided to head on back to the study. Cid wasn't finished, so they sat around and waited. Elliott leaned against a wall, armor removed, and ate out of a bag of caramel corn he got from a store. Figment browsed the bookshelves, looking at the titles and books themselves. Maru lay on the couch, trying out Different Key's use as a guitar and finding it worked quite well as he strummed chords that sounded fine to him. He honestly considered seeking some tabs, since he was enjoying his music-making.

After about ten minutes, Cid came in and announced he was finished. Everyone got up and ready to go, thanked him, and departed out the door. Cid blinked at this and smacked his forehead. "People are weird..."

Merlin raised his head as his door opened again and Maru charged in. "Hi-bye," he went as he skidded into the save disk.

"Well, that was only fourty-five minutes," Merlin said, impressed, as he looked at his clock.

"Tolja so," Figment said before he got back into the disk, as well.

**Bit 16: Suburban Toyland**

Before getting back, Maru took a second to look at the new worlds available to them. There were, again, only two of them. "I'm getting tired of these two-at-a-time things," he muttered. One of them appeared to be a three-peaked mountain and the other some ruins of some sort. They paid no great attention to these and instead went right back to Suburban Toyland. They chose to enter in on Sid's desk and did so.

It appeared as if the amount of time that passed for the group while they were gone was the same amount that had passed in for Woody and his world. The cowboy jumped a little as the sound of the trio appearing came to his ears. "Woah! You guys startled me with that beaming-down thing!" he stated. He raised an eyebrow. "Meant to ask you: What kinda toys ARE you?" he asked.

"Like no other," Maru replied with a smirk. He stepped off the disk and looked out the window. "Wow, it's really coming down," he said quietly.

"Yeah," Woody agreed. "It's kinda sad."

"I actually like the rain," Maru said, walking to the sill and sitting down by it. He closed his eyes and listened to the steady tattoo against the glass, trees, roof, pavement, cars, and everything else outdoors.

"Well, we've got, what, four or five hours yet to spend before going to sleep?" asked Figment, holding his arms up. "I sure as heck ain't tired yet. That kid's crazy, you know?"

"Like nobody else," Woody agreed.

"Well, I think I'm gonna lie down again," announced Elliott, who went and joined Maru across the sill.

Figment half-eyed them and crossed his arms. "You guys are boring, you know that?" he asked. He shook his head and looked around for something to do. The demented room met his eyes. With a shiver, he turned around again. "I...THINK I'll just...look out the window..." He went over and plopped in front of the window.

Maru felt himself dozing off to the steady, relaxing rhythm of the rain. 'Wait...should stay up in case Sid returns...' he thought, but the hypnogogic images came at him. Soon, he was asleep. Elliott was first, then Figment was, by an hour, last.

- - -

"*SNUK!*"

Maru jarred awake at this. He looked over at Sid, slunched over in what HAD to be an uncomfortable sleeping position. "I wanna ride the pony..." he mumbled in his sleep. Maru sweatdropped at this before looking around.

It appeared to be night or early morning. The rain still came, but it appeared to be less than before. "It must be absolutely soaked out there," Maru muttered, looking outside. "Wonder if it'll be so damp that the rocket won't...wait, it's never that damp, normally..." He stood up and stretched. He went over to shake awake Figment and Elliott, who he admitted looked a little cute sleeping together, the smaller resting his head against the larger.

They went over to Woody, who was already awake. "So, well-rested?" the cowboy asked in a low voice.

"Yes, we are," Maru answered. "What about Buzz?" he asked, looking over at him.

Woody shook his head. "No luck. Never said anything before going to sleep," he replied. He was quiet for a while before reaching down and grabbing a hex nut. After aiming, he tossed it at Buzz's helmet. It hit with a clunk and shook the toy awake. "Buzz!" called Woody in a hoarse whisper.

Buzz groggilly looked over at Woody, then looked away again. "Hi, Woody," he said.

Woody looked away a little and said, "Look, Buzz? I'm...I'm sorry for all the stuff I've been putting you through. I've just been a bit jealous."

Navi cleared her throat.

Woody looked up at this before sighing and shaking his head, smiling a bit. "Well, a LOT jealous," he admitted.

"What's there to be jealous about?" Buzz asked. He lifted an arm and let it fall again. "I'm just a toy. Like you said, a child's plaything. There's nothing special in that."

Woody looked afronted. "Nothing special? Buzz! Don't you realize what you ARE?" he asked.

"A toy," came the answer.

"ExACTly!" Woody said, putting his fist in his palm and smiling a bit. "You're a toy! You're ANDY'S toy! You know how special you are to be that?" No response. Woody continued, gesturing as he did. "You're some child's toy. You're here to be played with, to make them happy. To bring joy into their life! And they love you for it--Andy loves you for it. It's a job only us toys can do; being there to play with them." He gripped the bars of the crate. "Don't you see, Buzz? Andy loves you and misses you. You're his toy, one of the most special things in the world to a child. That's WAY cooler than being a Space Ranger." He smiled at this, waving his hand dismissively.

"But why would he want to play with me?" Buzz asked.

"What?" Woody went, raising an eyebrow. "Buzz, you're the coolest thing since sliced bread! You've got those buttons! You glow in the dark! You've got WINGS! You've got a laser, and that helmet that does that 'WHOOSH!' thing!!" He pantomimed energetically as he went. "What kid WOULDN'T want to play with you? Buzz, you are a COOL toy!"

Buzz looked up a little at all of this, but still said nothing.

Woody's face fell a bit as he quietly progressed, "In fact, you're REALLY cool...and I...I'm just a pullstring cowboy..." He pulled his string, voicebox making one of his random phrases, and sighed dejectedly. "Maybe I'm not good enough for Andy. He wants you more than he wants me. I'M the one who should be strapped to that rocket." He bowed his head in depression.

Buzz looked at him, amazed, before setting his face determinedly. The rain outside slowed to a halt. He stood up and went on top of the crate, jarring it a little bit. Woody looked up and at him, asking him what he's doing. "Come on, Sheriff Woody, you can't get all down now!" Buzz said. He turned and pointed out the window. "There's a kid over there who misses you, and it's time we get back to him."

"Nobody deserves to lose their world," added Maru, walking over to them, arms crossed. "Be it their physical world or their personal...one..." As he spoke, something finally dawned on him. "...Of course..."

"What is it?" Figment asked.

"Woody, would you say that a child's toys are part of their heart?" asked Maru. "Like, external pieces of their being?"

Woody thought for a moment, going "Uuuuh", before shrugging and nodding. "Uh, yeah, I guess...Yeah, you could say that, I guess."

"And a child's heart is..." Maru glanced at Sid. "...USUALLY..." He looked back. "...pure. And pure hearts create powerful Heartless and Nobodies..." He looked out the window. "Woody? Buzz? The longer you two are away from Andy, the weaker his heart becomes and the more susceptible to having it taken he'll be. And you know what happens when you lose your heart?"

Woody gulped as he looked at Maru. "They become one of those dark things, don't they?" he asked.

A second passed before everyone was pushing against the crate, sans a toolbox-pushing Buzz. When Woody pushed the crate enough over the edge to get down, he jumped through and landed on the carpet and turned to look up. "Okay, that's enough, guys!" he called.

Sadly, Buzz couldn't hear him. Maru and the dragons stopped, but before they could alert Buzz, the entire box went over. Woody gave a crazy-happy smile before the box landed square on top of him. The resulting clatter was enough to wake up the dead.

And, of course, miraculously, Sid slept through it.

Maru and company leaned over the edge at the damage, worried. "Woody! Are you alright?" called Buzz.

Woody weakly got the box off of him, wheezing, "I'm okay!!" while staggering weakly around.

"That's good," Buzz went as the others breathed sighs of relief.

BRRRRRRRNNNGGGGG!!

"THAT'S not," Figment went as the shrill alarm clock went off. Maru jumped down to the floor and hid beneath the box, his comrades following suit. Woody did the same. Buzz didn't react in time (nor would he have fit in the box).

Sid got up and yawned. The clock fell to the floor and shut off. He looked outside. "What was I gonna do today?" he asked. Then, he looked at Buzz and grinned into a smile. "Oh, yeah!! I was gonna send you into orbit!" He chuckled and looked around. "I wanted to play with that dorky cowboy doll, too...Oh, well!" He cackled and ran out with Buzz. "It's time to play!"

Woody scrambled out from under the box, horror on his face. "Oh, no, Buzz!" he cried in dismay. He dashed out to catch him, stopping the door from closing with his arm. He was about to run out again when, of course, Scud came barelling down, desiring something fabric to rip apart. Woody was able to close the door on the dog's muzzle and drive him out. After that, he slid to the floor in stress.

"We've got to save him before he's blown to pieces," Maru said, throwing the box off of him, as well.

"Right," agreed Woody. "You're helping, right?"

"Why wouldn't I?" Maru asked, raising an eyebrow and smirking.

"You're a jerk?" reasoned Figment, who earned a smack by Maru. "I think I've been setting a new record for those in this world...Ow..."

"Alright..." Woody walked to the center of the floor. "Hey, fellas? Guys? C'mon out, please...I need your help," he called. "I want to save Buzz. He's my friend."

Slowly, the mutant toys came out and crowded around him. Maru and the others joined him. Woody nodded and looked around, arms out. "Thank you, thank you," he said gratiously. "Now, who wants to get back at Sid?" The toys made positive motions. "Alright, okay, now, we're gonna have to break a few rules, but here's the plan..."

- - -

"Alright, everyone know what they're doing?" asked Woody, standing up from his crouch over a map of crayons and pencils and bolts. Everyone nodded except Maru, Figment, and Elliott. "You guys are gonna go with the other teams. Figment, you head to the front porch with Legs and Ducky to look after them, since you're the smallest and able to get through."

"Size DOES matter," he said, smirking mischievously.

"Elliott, you go with me, Maru, and the others," Woody said, pointing at them.

They nodded. "Right," Maru said.

"I'll do my best!" promised Elliott.

"Then let's move! Guys with me: Don't go until the signal!" Woody commanded.

Figment went over with Legs, the walking fishing pole, and Ducky, a part-bobble head, part-strongman body, part-duck-headed Pez dispenser, and into the vents. Maru and the others waited there. Scud awaited outside the door. After a few moments, Woody, in a serious voice, commanded something that Maru would not soon forget:

"Wind the frog!"

As Figment went through the ventalation, he found that, indeed, there were a few Heartless about...as well as a couple Nobodies. "What?! Why are THOSE guys suddenly here?" he asked, drawing a hand. Turning to the toys, he said, "We've got to keep moving, or else the plan's kaput!" They ran along. Figment had a little bit of a time fighting alone, but he was able to manage protecting the two. The fight became much easier after they got to the area above the front porch, since they both were staying in one spot and were in a large area. Figment found it the best time to use his last-resort attack, Blackjack, that he'd used WAY back in Paris. When the coast was clear, he breathed a sigh of relief and rested against a horizontal support. "How can Maru even THINK of fighting alone?! He's crazy!" he panted, fanning himself with a hand. (Yes, the player would be playing as Figment for a bit here ;) )

Finally, after Ducky swung enough, he rang the doorbell. Woody and the others were on a skateboard/air force pilot called Roller-Bob, and the wind-up frog with wheels from before was released out of the door opened by the hand-in-the-box and other toys. Scud was distracted by the frog zipping by and let the others start off. Maru and Elliott hung on, both ready to attack any Heartless who would attack them. As it happened, there WERE Heartless to attack them on their way out, all flying enemies. Maru had to swing out with his Keyblade when Darkballs and Hookbats threatened, while Elliott seared away the elementals that were affected by Fire magic. Woody also helped, swinging out with his pullstring.

The frog led Scud out the door and into Hannah, who had come to get the door and was standing there, confused at the sight of nobody there. Getting up from the takedown, she angrily slammed the door and locked Scud out. The frog was carried up after meeting Ducky's awaiting arms. "SUCK-AAAHH!!" taunted Figment before they replaced the light they took out to hang Ducky from, the plan going smoothly. As Hannah went through to another room, Maru and the others came barreling downstairs.

"Wo-oo-oo-oo-oah," Elliott murmured, giving the rare sweatdrop at the bumpy ride. Maru whacked away a Darkball coming at them on the way down with difficulty. They turned a sharp left and Maru had to hold on. Going between the legs of a chair and table, they were on another straight shot, again filled with Heartless.

"What is this, land-based Gummi Ship flying?" Maru asked as he smacked away an enemy.

"Or something," Elliott shrugged, breathing fire at a Yellow Nocturne (or whatever it was XP).

"EVERYONE LEAN BACK!" ordered Woody, and everyone did so, tipping the single-kick board up. They soared out the doggie door (clearing the mini-game) and into the bushes. There, they parted the branches to watch Sid. Figment and the others came and joined them.

"All clear?" he asked.

"Yes," Maru confirmed. He looked back out. "Alright, double-check: We all take our places?" he asked Woody.

"Yup!" Woody replied, nodding and smiling. "You know yours?"

Figment sighed in disappointment. "Hide in the bushes and attack if necessary," he repeated with the same emotion.

"Right. Remember, he's never seen you guys, so he'd be confused if you came out, too," Woody explained. "Alright, places, everybody!" Everyone dashed around and got in their spots. Sid went away for a moment, giving them time to get ready.

The show began a minute later. Sid came back and expressed surprise at Woody on the ground. "How'd YOU get out here?" he asked. He picked him up, shrugged, said, "Oh, well, we can have a cook-out, later," tossed him on the grill and put a match in his holster before using the box as a pretend walkie-talkie. Then, he lit a match and began to hold it near the fuse on Buzz's rocket. "...3...2...1..." He held it closer...

"Reach for the skyyyy!"

He stopped and looked around. "Huh?" He walked over to the grill, where Woody lay. He put the match out before it burned his finger.

"This town ain't big enough for the two of us!!" Woody's voicebox was going, despite the string staying in his back.

Sid picked him up and examined him.

"Somebody's poisoned the waterhole!!"

"Stupid doll's busted," he spat. He turned and was about to set him down.

"Who you callin' busted, buster?"

Sid froze, and Maru made an impressed, low "Ooh" at the use of the voicebox instead of real voice. Sid looked at Woody again.

"That's right, I'm talking to you...Sid!" Woody said, face still. Sid jerked back a bit, gasping. "We don't like being blown up, Sid. Or smashed. Or ripped apart."

"'We'?" repeated Sid, starting to get freaked out as he held Woody. He was beginning to hyperventilate.

"That's right, your toys," answered Woody, giving the signal for the other toys to reveal themselves. As Sid looked around, they "rose from the grave". Buzz, standing on a dartboard and wondering what was going on before, did a happy double-take.

"It's 'Day of the Living Dead Toys'!" Figment joked.

Sid backed away from them only to have Babyface come down with help from Legs and clasp around his head, then rap it with his claw. Sid ripped away from that with a scream. Another scream came when his leg was grabbed by the hand-in-the-box, pulling with it some of the other toys from Sid's room. Sid yelled again and jumped away, still holding Woody this entire time.

"From now on, you must take good care of your toys, Sid," Woody continued while the black-shirted youth became surrounded, "'cuz if you don't, we'll find out." Sid brought Woody to his face, where he said, "We toys can see eeevverryythiiing." Maru nearly anime fell as he pulled an Exorcist and spun his head a complete 360. Sid recoiled in horror. Then, abruptly, Woody sprang to life, as well, leaning his head closer to Sid and saying, using his normal (if now calmly threatening) voice, "So play nice."

Sid screamed and tossed away Woody before running for his life back in the house. Hannah wondered what was wrong, walking in a hall while holding her doll. "Nice dolly, nice dolly...!" Sid whined, shielding himself from it with his hands. Hannah, confused, looked at her doll before shoving it a little at Sid. When he jumped back, she began to chase him through the house, holding her doll as her big brother screamed, this time.

The toys all made celabratory actions--cheering, jumping for joy, making noise. "WE DID IT!!" Woody cried.

Maru and the others came out of the bushes. "THAT WAS AWESOME!!" Figment cried enthusiastically.

"You DO realize that you've now given that kid nightmares for at LEAST a month and even MORE psychological issues, right?" Maru asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Yeah, but it was sure as heck worth it," Woody replied before he ran over to Buzz. "C'mon, we've got to go!"

"Woody! What was THIS all about?" he asked as Woody grabbed him and started pulling him off the dartboard.

"Well, did you WANT to get blown up?" Woody asked back, raising an eyebrow.

"Besides, Sid needed to be taught a lesson," added Elliott, coming over with a triumphant smile.

Buzz nodded. "Right. Thanks, everyone," he said, coming down.

The car in Andy's driveway began. "Everyone say, 'bye, house!'" the mom said.

"Bye, house!" repeated Andy.

Woody and Buzz whipped their heads around to look at the fence. "The move!" They all ran off, Woody waving behind, "We gotta go, thanks, guys!"

Maru and the others ran through the slats of the picket fence to hop onto the van's back bumper, but Buzz was caught with the rocket. "Go on! I'll catch up!" he told them.

Woody looked at the van, his friend, and made his decision. He jumped off and dashed over to Buzz, right when the car began to leave off. Maru and the others yelped and jumped off, tumbling from momentum. Maru dazedly shook his head. "For some reason...I don't feel as hurt...as I should be..." he muttered.

"Duh! We're plastic!" Figment went, getting up and brushing himself off.

Elliott turned. "The van!" he cried.

"We know!" Woody and Buzz said as they ran past. The others joined them. They ran out into the road and missed the van, but, after ducking, they decided to try the truck, aiming for a belt sticking out of the back.

As they ran by, Scud, still outside, lifted his head at the sight of two running toys. Snarling, he ran out to get them.

Buzz made it first, and then Woody, after a great leap. Maru was about to come next when they saw Scud. "Oh, crap," Maru muttered as he poured on the speed. "Where the heck is Sonic when you need him?!"

CRUNCH!! Scud grabbed Woody's leg to their dismay, and was starting to pull him off. Woody told Buzz to take care of Andy.

"NO!!" Buzz dived onto Scud's face, grabbed his eyelids, and snapped them back, making him yipe, slow down, and let go of Woody.

"Buzz!!" cried Woody. He looked at Maru and the others. "Help him!" he asked them.

"Right!" Maru nodded. He skidded, turned, and began to dash back.

"Wait up, Maru!" Figment cried, turning to come with, Elliott (groaning) doing the same.

Scud had trapped Buzz beneath a parked car and was now barking at him. Maru slid beneath the car and batted away the muzzle when it threatened, though it was difficult from his crouched position. His teammates helped, though. "You alright, Buzz?" Maru asked while fighting.

"Yeah, thanks," he answered. He looked away a little. "...Sorry about being a jerk before..."

"Trust me, you're way better than some of the people I've met," Maru said, giving a glance at Figment.

"HEY!!"

"Well, it's true!"

MARU got a whack on the head, this time.

Woody opened the truck's back when it hit a stoplight and rooted through the boxes. The other toys expressed confusion and tried talking to him, but he just grabbed RC and his controller, set him on the edge, and pushed him off. The other toys panicked, thinking he did it again.

"C'mon..." Woody directed RC towards the car.

RC came about thirty seconds into the muzzle-mashing. He stopped and revved, telling them to get on. "There's not enough room for all of us," Maru muttered. He suddenly had an idea, bringing out one of his balls. (YOU KNOW WHAT I MEAN!!) "Buzz, you and Figment get on RC--we'll be fine!" he ordered.

"I trust you," Buzz said, and he dove onto RC, Figment coming with. They zipped on out, Scud following suit.

"What'll WE do?" asked Elliott, coming out with Maru.

Maru threw the ball. "The finest mode of transportation availible," he said. Catching the ball again, he smirked up at Terroge. "We travel by plushie."

Terroge blinked at this, then grinned and nodded, crouching down. "All aboard, then!" he growled happilly. Maru hopped up into his big arms while Elliott went on his back. Terroge grunted at Elliott's weight. "Sheesh, didja vore somebody or somethin'?" he asked.

Elliott blinked and Maru blushed profusely. "Did I what, now?" Elliott asked.

"You can understand me?" Terroge asked in surprise.

"LATER! Terroge, Fly or just run like hell after that truck!" Maru ordered, pointing at the now-moving truck. A little ahead, Scud was seen following Buzz.

"Got it, Maru!" Terroge replied, and he started to trot along, picking up speed as he went. Soon, he opened his wings and beat them powerfully, miraculously able to fly despite the weight he carried. "It's not easy, though," he grunted when this comment was made aloud.

Ahead, Woody was being harrassed by the toys, who didn't know he was trying to help Buzz. He was thrown this way and that, even spun around. As he was, RC imitated his movements, zigging, zagging, and going in a circle before going straight again.

"Down there," Maru pointed. "C'mon, let's get to Buzz and make sure he doesn't become a Scudmark." He blushed and sweatdropped immediately afterwards and added, through gritted teeth, "I've been hanging around Figment for too long." The two dragons chuckled before the biggest one descended, gliding on.

As they reached Buzz, Scud managed to get caught in an intersection, causing a multi-car pileup and fence of metal around him. Maru smirk-grinned and Elliott made a face at the dog before they flew on to Buzz.

"WOAH!" Buzz went as he saw the behemoth overhead. "How the heck can YOU fly?! You're a stuffed animal!"

"I'm not your average plushie," Terroge grinned. When Buzz blinked in confusion, FIGMENT, for once, translated. "I guess it's the same thing as with that Slasher girl back at Melee Arena," mumbled the Heartless-/Dragon-type.

"Look!" Elliott cried, pointing ahead. Woody had been thrown onto the road by the toys, still holding the controller. "Pick him up!"

"Figment, up here," Maru ordered. "Buzz, shift back a little now!"

Figment jumped up and grabbed Terroge's enormous tail, holding a plastic spike as support, and Buzz scooted back a little just before RC ran into Woody, knocking him back on top of him. "You think you'd be left behind?" asked Buzz, smirking.

"Well, I was wondering," Woody said.

"WATCH OUT!" Buzz cried, and Woody faced front again, gasped, and steered them out of the way of a parked car.

The chase continued. Maru and his crew flew ahead to the truck, where Terroge hung in midair (in relation to the vehicle). The toys yelped in surprise at this. "Woah, look, it's Special Effects-san!" Mr. Potato Head said.

"IT'S MARU, FOR PETE'S SAKE!!" Maru roared, shaking a fist.

"Meep! Don't squirm, I'll drop you!" warned Terroge, sweatdropping.

"Guys, look there," Maru said, pointing down and behind him with his Keyblade. The toys looked and saw that something was coming.

"It's Woody!" Bo Peep cried in joy, taking Lenny, a pair of binoculars, and looking. "And he's got Buzz with him!"

"He WASN'T lying!" Slink said in joy. "See? I toldja so!"

"I think we've all learned a valuable lesson today," said Maru after the toys made sorry sounds. He crossed his arms.

"That plushies are REALLY hard to hang onto?!" Figment asked, squeaking at his slipping grip. Elliott bravely slid back and reached back with his own tail, which Figment gladly grabbed and hoisted himself up with.

"No, that you should hear people out before you judge them," Maru answered. "If you would have just listened to Woody instead of pressuring him, you never would have gotten into this massive a mess right now."

"Maru's right, Potato Head, Hamm," Bo Peep said, putting a fist on her hip while she looked at the most guilty persons, who shrank back a little. "You should've listened to Woody. Like when we saw him with Buzz's arm; Sid probably did something to him, not Woody!"

"Actually, that was Buzz's own fault," Figment muttered, though unheard.

"Let's help them out now, then!" Slink said, going to the edge. "WOODY!!" he called.

The toys on the RC car were getting closer. "We're almost there!" called Buzz.

"Lower the ramp!" suggested Rex.

"WAIT! The sparks!" cried Maru, but he was unheard. Rocky Gibraltar, Andy's strongman toy, grabbed the ramp release and pulled. Slamming to the road and grinding gratingly, the ramp produced so many sparks, the toys couldn't get there.

"Hold onto me," Slink said, and, after his end was grabbed, he jumped out to the ramp and reached a paw to Woody. "C'mon, Woody!"

They tried to grab each other, but when they did, Slink was carried off by momentum and stretched out. "Sliink...!" Woody grunted worriedly.

Slink winced as he overstretched. "Woody...sorry..."

"NO!" Maru grabbed Slink with telekinesis, relieving some of the strain. He grunted and pulled. "Let's get this done with NOW!"

With Maru helping, Slink slowly began to draw back to the van with Woody and Buzz. "Hang in there, Maru!" cheered Bo Peep.

"Thanks," grunted the psychic. "Maybe I should try using my Mis Form..."

Suddenly, a figure appeared in a cloud of smoke on the ramp. "Boy, you guys are just PERSISTENT, aren't you?" she asked. She produced a kunai knife and threw it at Maru.

"MARU!!" cried Terroge.

Maru cursed and raised his Keyblade to block it. While he did, the kunouichi (however it's spelled) threw another at Slink, who was now released from telekinesis. Slink had to let go to avoid being stuck and sprang back to the van, moaning from the pain of stretching out.

Maru and Terroge growled, glaring down at her. "You--" Maru began, but he gagged and froze, face taut.

"Shit, not again!" Navi flew out of his collar, carrying the bottle of Full Heal. "This is the last bit, so let's hope it works!" She spritzed it as best as she could into his head.

While Maru experienced another psychic overextention, the ninja cackled and leaned back against the van, arms crossed. "Oh, this is priceless!" she laughed.

"PRICELESS?! What kinda twisted sense-a huma d'YOU got?" Potato Head scolded, hobbling over and pointing at her.

She chuckled mirthlessly. "That's my problem," she said softly. "I don't even HAVE one."

Bo Peep blinked at this. "Huh?" she went quietly.

Meanwhile, RC was slowing down. "No, NO! RC, c'mon...!" Woody coaxed.

RC sounded like he was panting as he slowed and slowed. "His batteries must be dead," Buzz said.

Finally, they stopped. The van disappeared off. They were screwed. Woody moaned and beat the road with his fist. Then, he remembered the match and the rocket. "Wait! The rocket! We can--" he started, lighting the match from RC's treads, but he stopped when a passing car blew it out. He cried in desperation.

"You rang?"

"Huh?" They looked up as a blue card came shooting down right at the upturned fuse to the rocket. It burst into fire and lit it. Figment had thrown a Fire card from Terroge, who had flown back a bit at Figment's suggestion. Maru hung, fainted and recovering from the strain still. Terroge was absolutely distressed at his trainer's condition.

"Alright!! Thanks, Figment!" Woody called, and he crouched down, hanging on. A second later, he realized something. "Waitaminit...We just lit a rocket. Rockets EXLODE-!"

BOOOOOOM!! The fuse hit the ignition and they were off! RC widened his eyes as they fired along, forcing Terroge to fly further.

Maru groaned and shook his head. "Ooowwwww...I can't wait until I'm back to normal..." he murmured before he noticed the toys below. He blinked his eyes wide open and opened his mouth a bit. "Well, I'll be damned! Resourceful little things, aren't they?"

Now, they were getting back into the range of the van. They began to lift up for some reason, and the toys cleared the way as RC was dropped in. Poor Potato Head was smashed spectacularly, though.

"We're going to explode!" Woody cried in worry as they flew up.

"Not today!" declared Buzz, smiling the heroic smile he's known for. He pressed the red button. His wings sprang out, tearing the tape and separating them from the rocket. The rocket soared skywards a few more feet before exploding as a wonderful firework. Buzz and Woody dropped away, gliding along.

"BUZZ! You're...you're flying!!" Woody marveled, holding his arms out a la NiGHTS.

"Nope! This is falling, with style!" corrected Buzz (comma there for the way he said it).

"Ha-haah! TO INFINITY AND BEYOND!!" called Woody in joy. Things were finally looking up.

The ninja was, too, and she was not happy. She grumped and vanished. "OOOOOHHH, NO, YA DON'T!!" she roared, reappearing instantly atop the truck. She reached a hand out and a thin chain shot from it. It wrapped around the two flying toys and yanked them back. She slammed them into the roof of the van. "If you want something done right, you've just got to do it yourself!"

"NO!!" Maru ordered Terroge to fly over. He gladly obliged. Maru fired an Ember at the cloaked woman. "HEY!! UP HERE, YOU NARUTO WANNABE!!"

"NARUTO?!" The woman whipped around and gave a piercing glare from behind her hood at them. "Uzemaki? THAT annoying kid?! Come on! I know I'm bad, but I want nothing more than to SMACK him! He ended up tearing all my flowers from my garden once!"

Maru lowered his arm and blinked. "You're joking," he said flatly.

"How observant," was all the woman said before turning around again to the two toys cowering on the roof. "Now, where were we, boys?" she asked, evilly waggling her fingers at him. She felt a small Keyblade smack her on the back of the head. "Ah! Hey, that smarts!" She turned and put her hands on her hips as she looked at the four landing. Maru was set down, and the other two dragons slid off of Terroge before Maru, telling him that he'll call him if he needs him, recalled him.

"Leave them alone, already, you witch!" Maru commanded.

"And why should I?" asked the woman. "After all, if they're out of the picture, Andy's great heart is as good as ours. I mean, sure, I know I should be feeling bad, but trust me, if this whole thing gets good, it'll ALLLL be worth it." She made a few handsigns. In a POOF!, she was now a small woman, about the same level as Maru. She stepped forwards and summoned a shield around them with more handsigns, then pulled off her hood.

She was light-skinned and had black hair tied into a tight bun on the top of her head. A silver headband went around her forehead, the tag ends attatched to short, thin-linked chains. "You want to save Andy? Then let's see if you can stop the great ninja trickster, Loxernette, before she destroys his most precious posessions!" she challenged, swinging her arms out and summoning a chain between them and beginning to swing it around behind her. The links of the tail end, coming from her right hand, were bigger and appeared to be spiked. Instead of a sickle or a weight at the absolute end, a large, spiked link was there.

Buzz and Woody scrambled over, Buzz getting up and putting away his wings and Woody pulling out his pullstring. "You're NEVER going to get your mitts on Andy, you sick freak!" Woody spat. Maru watched as another hexagon wall surrounded the roof of the van and, to his relief, blocked the wind. 'So this is going to be easier than the last battle atop a vehicle,' he thought. 'Good, I hated that fight...' He twirled his Keyblade and got ready.

- - -

It'll end next chapter, I SWEAR it!!

*-*-*

FT: *sighs* Crap, can't think of an omake...again...Maybe if I let myself go off-track again--*chalkboard eraser'd*

Maru: *toy form again, steam clouding as he holds after-throwing position* Don't even THINK about doing that again!! That's what made Hawaii go so long!

FT: *picks up hem of flannel overshirt and wipes off chalkmark on cheek, coughing* Oh, shut up, and why aren't you complaining about how you're mostly fighting WITHOUT Buzz, even though he's supposed to be this world's partner?

Maru: *gets out Terroge plushie* Because I've got him *thumbs to Terroge*.

Terroge: =n-n= Awwwr, thanks, Maru!

FT: *starry-eyes and clasps hands together to one side at sight of plushie Terroge, gasping* AWESOME!! MUST! HUG! CUTE/AWESOME COMBO! *leans forwards to hug*

Maru: *disgustedly grimaces and halfeyes* Oh, brother...I wouldn't do that if I were--

Terroge: O.O *hugged* ...=n-n= *hugs back tightly*

FT: *squaks at grip* MEEP! OOGH...I guess this is why I...never make anyone but Carephrii mega-hug...XoX

Maru: *crosses arms and Mewtwo-smirks* That's what I thought. *to Terroge* Keep up that Submission, Terroge!

Terroge: Gladly!! =n-n= *heart* *hugs tighter, rubbing side of head against FT's*

FT: *hears a crack* . Meep.

Terroge: Can I do this to you, next, Maru?

Maru: O-o;; You're...serious...?

*-*-*


	26. 15, 16: Ninja Galden

The battle began. Loxernette had a long range and the chain wasn't very fun to get hit with, and she, like Gantu, preferred to stay at a distance from Maru. She was faster than Gantu, too, but had a MUCH smaller battlefield to work with. Maru had to avoid the chain as he went as best he could, but it was a bit difficult. He had to swerve when it was coming right for him, duck when it was being swung high, and jump when it went low. Since it went fast, he didn't have much time. If he could just go as fast as he could to get to her and dodge the attack in time, he could potentially get in a combo. He had attempted to use projectiles, but after getting hit, Loxernette revealed to use, in Naruto language, a Substitution Justu, complete with Sasuke's worst enemy, the log. She would then punish them by reappearing right behind them and whipping them.

Not only would she use the chain she had to whip them and "punch" them, but the konoichi would wrap the chain around them and swing them around at full range once before launching them. The bigger the person, the more damage inflicted to the others if the target, not the chain, hit. This means that while Figment and Woody didn't hurt all that much, Elliott hurt a LOT. Maru and Buzz hurt medium and medium-hard, respectively. Furthermore, Loxernette would summon chains from all over the place to bind them down, whack them, or bar their progress by having a thick chain come down and stay there for a bit. These thick chains came down only after she got hurt by a couple full combos. Yes, Maru was able to discover this. Finally, instead of just running around, Loxernette would instead dash around or, in another attack, jump off of someone's head and away. (This happened often when Maru or someone was closeby after she'd executed a melee attack.)

Maru felt more than one chance during this battle. One came without really being a true chance when he tried beating back Loxernette's incoming chain with the Keyblade. It worked the first time only because it was the end of the chain, but the next time was when he hit in the middle. It wrapped around the Keyblade, Loxernette laughing. "Yoink!" she quoted, yanking it from his hand the first time this happened. She quickly swung the thing right back at him, bashing him with the heavy weight of the wrapped-up chain bundle. The second time she did this, though, Maru was ready, having an idea. It wrapped again, and he grunted as he grabbed the hilt with both hands. This idea flopped, too, since he was pulled back to Loxernette. "Nice try," she giggled before slamming a hard kick to him. But, as they say, third time's the charm. Instead of letting her yank him towards her, Maru braced and, during something where the player would be button-mashing the Reaction Command button, had a bit of a tug-o-war with her. They both grunted for a second before, finally, Maru succeeded in yanking HER, this time. "Nice try!" he returned the favor, giving her a full-on Gunshot Kick, knocking her stamina down quite a chunk. She even staggered after the hit and was open to a combo. Most of the time after getting combo'd, she would disappear again.

The second chance came when she wrapped him up and swung him around. Thinking quickly after getting hit with the attack, he freed an arm and grabbed onto the chain. In order to release the chained captive, Loxernette had to whip the chain back and command it to unwrap. However, since Maru was holding onto it himself, he didn't fly off. In fact, he flew right for her. "Huh?" Loxernette went when she saw this, stopping in surprise as Maru came at her.

"Hi!" Maru greeted as he let go and ducked low after hitting the ground. She got hit in the face with her own chain, which hurt quite a bit and dazed her a moment, opening her for attacks. She was promptly comboed by Maru for a second before she vanished again.

After every two combos, she summoned one of those huge, thick chains. If they went to end in the barrier, they would go through a dark portal. These barred the way sometimes for a moment, but otherwise had no purpose except to hit anyone who didn't see it coming (which everyone usually could from a mile away).

Another chance felt by the Keyblader was just simply one where he'd break himself free from being bound by chains if she summoned them up from nowhere. However, after he broke them, the links scattered about from him and he felt a fleeting chance before they vanished. He failed the first time to get it, but he was ready the next time. Yelling, he raised his Keyblade and psychically grabbed a bunch of links with the boost of power granted during the chance. He turned and aimed at Loxernette before, with another chance, swinging his Keyblade down and launching a horizontal rain of iron links. They managed to hit Loxernette and weren't fun for her.

Speaking of, after a while in the fight, the kunouichi had summoned three thick chains. The use for these was at last revealed when she came to the center of the ring and made a few handsigns, starting to float up. "You wanna see 'Naruto wannabe?' Here ya go: Hidden Art," she announced, the links of the chains breaking and coming up to swirl around her. When all of them were around her, she began to fire them off at her enemies. "Steel Meteor Shower Jutsu!"

They weren't that slow-moving, either, and they were hard to avoid. Let's not forget these were HUGE chain links, metal as thick as a buff man's arm (proportionately, given the change in size right now), and so they hurt A LOT. Maru didn't find a chance, exactly, but he knew he had to try something after being put in the danger zone and watching ALL his comrades faint around him. He swung at a falling link.

It didn't work.

"UWWAAAH!!" he cried, getting thrust back. He was on his last legs. 'Aw, SHIT!!' he thought. 'No...not now...' He held up a Barrier shield and watched as the links kept on coming, jarring him back with each hit and threatening to shatter the concentrated psychic energy. 'No...NO...NO!!'

It hit him.

Maru thrust his Keyblade up. "ICE SHARD!" he cried with every ounce of his being. The attack began again, forming the six clouds of frost around him. Almost as soon as he had used the move, the incoming link made to strike him. It hit an invisible hemisphere around Maru and stopped. Between the six clouds formed the figure of a basic-looking, hole-centered snowflake, which spun around Maru rapidly and grew, as well as blasting the projectile, covered in ice, from Maru back at Loxernette's jaw. She let out a magnificent cry of agony and fell to the ground after getting hit. (Hey, I said he got hit--I didn't say by what ;) )

*****Maru: LEARNED Ice Shard (Properly)*****

"THAT'S what the hell it's supposed to do!!" Maru cried triumphantly, pulling out a Mega Potion. "Here we go," he said with relief as the item healed everyone in the party. (He hadn't used it before since he would either get hit or it would've been useless due to getting hit right away again.) After healing everyone, he charged over and, taking advantage of the very dazed (and hurt) state the kunouichi was in, landed more than one combo on her.

They still had a ways to go, however, after about three combos of his on her. She disappeared and continued to fight. 'She has an impressive defense,' Maru thought, 'for a ninja, who usually don't have that much defense due to their tendency to try NOT getting hit more than others.' The battle wore on until she tried her Steel Meteor Shower Jutsu again. This time, Maru immediately knew what to do. "Chill," he ordered as he used Ice Shard and summoned the shield of invisible ice again at the right time. It worked yet again, and the hail stopped before long.

Near the end of the fight, Maru didn't have enough energy to use Ice Shard and Loxernette was using her Steel Meteor Shower Justu. He had SOME energy, though, and he had gotten the idea about what happens when he works together. Nearby Buzz and Woody, he called, "GUYS! Think you can cooperate without ripping each others' throats out?"

"No duh!" Woody called back.

"Then c'mon!" Maru beckoned. He spun his Keyblade around and hoped they got it. The toys raised their eyebrows, looked at each other, then nodded. Maru gripped his Keyblade. "Then let's do it!"

In a flash of light, all three were rendered invulnerable and Buzz felt immense power surge through him. Maru felt power, too, and it was a kind he'd been missing for a long time. He smirked and floated up as Buzz cried, "Buzz Lightyear to the rescue!" He opened his wings up and started to fly around, too.

"You had to, didn't you?" Woody asked. He grabbed his pullstring and revealed its length to be greater than normal. Buzz came and grabbed him up while Maru flew up beside him. Maru swung with his Keyblade and created a short cyclone beneath them that would have blown back any enemies below.

Maru and Buzz were granted the ability to fly for the duration of the Limit, and they made good use of it. Maru charged toward Loxernette with a dashing slash while Buzz charged after, Woody swinging a wide-range whipping pullstring that even struck with the string. When Maru and Buzz attacked together, they both aimed with an arm--Buzz his right and Maru his left--and fired their energy attacks, with Buzz firing a rather large laser beam and Maru spraying a mess of miniature Shadow Balls a la his back throw in Melee.

When the Limit was up, Woody smirked and shouted, "Let's round 'em up!" as he swung a HUGE pullstring lasso out. It came out front and pulled together a good two-foot (literal) radius towards a central point. In this case, it was Loxernette and some of the big links, tying them all together and not letting them move. This hurt a bit, and Woody grabbed the lasso back after gathering all he could (speaking, of course, for future Limit usage).

Maru and Buzz quickly made triumphant battlegrunts as they dash-flew across the center of the circle that still remained, since it hadn't been given a chance to disperse. "To infinity..." Buzz began.

Then, the two flyers flew opposite each other at the edges of the lasso's original radius. Maru caught Woody's pullstring and hung on as he and Buzz each circled around the spot, somehow summoning a HUGE (relatively) laser from above between them. (How Woody's string survived was beyond the cowboy) "...and the great beyond!!" Maru finished, adding in his own fighter's flair.

"YEEEEHAWW!!" Woody whooped while they spun around.

When it was finally finished, Maru pulled himself to Buzz and Woody and they all landed outside the ground zero.

This huge Limit proved to be the final blow for Loxenette, who staggered from the hit. "UUUHNNGH!!...But...you...you're just a...bunch of plastic...!"

Loxernette stumbled back a bit, gritting her teeth into a snarl. "Owch...Sheesh...Damn, I wish I could say I was just joking, 'cuz that felt a bit unfair..." she grumbled.

Maru stepped over to her, taking this chance. "Why are you guys doing this?" he asked. "WHO are you guys, exactly?"

Loxernette chuckled a little. "Well, since you killed my mood, I'll be blunt," she replied, wincing as she buckled a little. "We're doing whatever the hell the guy who gave us a home and a purpose wants us to do, and I don't quite get WHO we are, myself. Frankly, I'm just like Tinny, lookin' for a heart, which I think might be in bad shape after all that..." She opened up a portal behind her. She gave a little chuckle. "And thanks, guys," she wince-smiled. "It's been years since I could play with toys with an excuse...Heh..." She retreated back into the portal.

"WAIT!" Maru called, running after. "Can't you give me more than that?!" He stopped when the portal shrank away before his outstretched hand. He let it fall, sighing. "Well...hmm..." He looked around, feeling the wind on his face from the truck. "..."

"You guys alright?" Figment asked Buzz and Woody.

"We're fine," Woody said, breathing a sigh of relief. He chuckled. "Wow, remind me never to play with YOU guys like that again. I mean, hey, you know what they say: It's all fun and games until someone loses an eye."

"Or an arm," Maru added, walking beside Buzz. He shook his head as everyone laughed. "Why did I do that...?"

Afterwards, Maru summoned out Terroge and asked to carry Buzz and Woody back to the car. He did so and dropped them through the sunroof. They landed in the box by Andy, who looked and gasped happily. "Mom!! I found them! Woody and Buzz were here in the car all along!" he cried in joy, hugging the toys to his chest.

"I TOLD you so," his mother said knowingly.

Woody and Buzz winked at each other before freezing again.

- - -

When they got to the new house, Maru walked into Andy's new room. Andy's new bed was set up, so, when there was a break between moving treks, he went over and reset the save disk. "That was fairly intense for a fight," Maru commented.

"I bet she's into heavy metal," Figment joked.

"Don't even, Figment," Elliott growled, not in the mood for bad jokes.

"I think we've had enough jokes for a while, with Loxernette," Maru grumbled.

"Hey, you three," called Bo Peep, walking over from a box. "I just wanted to thank you for helping out Woody and Buzz. They're great friends, now. I think life in Andy's room is going to settle back to normal, if not better." She smiled and nodded at them. "Thank you very much."

Maru bowed. "Not a problem, Bo Peep," he replied. "It was to everyone's advantage we help out."

"Well, we appreciate it," Woody said, walking over. "As thanks, why don't you take this thing I found lying in the box we landed in? I doubt we could use it."

"Why? What is it?" asked Elliott.

Buzz came over, carrying a violet and black (I think) disc the size of himself. "Something I doubt I could ever use on my ship," he joked. "You guys take it." He tossed it to Maru.

Maru squeaked and caught the disk the size of a stone coin to him, fingers hooking under an edge while he held it like a bundle of wood (though with straight arms). He looked through the center and nodded. "Thank you, Buzz. You think you can handle life knowing you're naught but a toy?" he asked.

Buzz grinned and put his hands on his hips. "Buzz Lightyear always carries out his mission, and if it's to make Andy happy, then I'm happy to be a toy!" he said, blending acting with talking truthfully.

"That's it, Buzz!" Woody praised, swinging his fist across his middle. "I think you'll be happy here, don't worry."

"Are we ever gonna see ya again, Special Effects-san?" asked Potato Head, walking over and pointing at Maru. He didn't seem angry, like he normally did throughout Maru's experience there.

"No, but you might see MARU again," Maru replied, anger-veining.

"Face it, 'Special Effects-san' is your newest official nickname," Figment told Maru in a comically blunt tone.

"LIKE HELL IT IS!!" Maru roared, eyes glowing a little bit at Figment, and everyone else laughed.

Suddenly, Maru's Keyblade appeared, which made carrying the SM difficult. "Meep! Uh, Elliott, catch," he stumbled, tossing it sideways to his draconic cohort. He held the Keyblade and looked at it. "Why the heck...?" he muttered. Then, he looked up and noticed the keyhole on Andy's door was glowing. He gave a small chuckle as he realized it. Then, stepping forth, he twirled his Keyblade around his body before tossing it up, turning a circle, and catching it above his head with his hand three-quarters of the way through. He finished the turn while swinging down the Keyblade and bringing both hands to it. A light formed at the bit before shooting out as a beam to the door.

The Keyhole glowed for a moment before a CLICK was heard. The light faded, and Maru lowered the Keyblade. "There," he said quietly in relief. "Our work here is done."

"What was THAT all about?" Buzz asked.

"Simple," Maru said, dismissing the Keyblade. He gave a little smirk. "Home is where the heart is."

"Then why didn't it pick up BEFORE, when we first got here?" asked Elliott.

"Because of the fact Andy was moving, so it wouldn't be his home for much longer," answered Woody. "I dunno exactly why that all happened, but I take it that, if us toys have hearts, who's to say that our world doesn't have one?" He raised an eyebrow in guess.

Maru nodded. "Sharp, sheriff," he complimented. "You should have not a worry about the Heartless taking this world. In fact, since we're leaving, they'll die down or vanish, since they seek me like a magnet." He sighed and shook his head, smiling a little. "Well, we'd best be off. Take good care of Andy," he bade, holding a hand up.

"And make sure he's able to have as much fun as possible with you guys!" Figment added, grinning broadly as he waved.

"I know Maru just said it, but I'll say it, too: Make sure Andy's safe!!" ordered Elliott, batting his paw in goodbye, carring the SM with the other one.

"Bye, you guys!" Woody called, waving back as the other toys that were out waved and bid farewell.

Maru gave a last Mewtwo smirk over his shoulder before disappearing in the save disk's light.

*****OBTAINED SM4*****

- - -

Chip narrowed his eyes and tapped his foot as they returned. "Another three day-er?" he asked.

"What? You rather we sat around and wasted our time for, like, a week?" Maru asked sarcastically. He touched his neck and sighed in relief. "Real skin..." he muttered.

"Besides, Chip," added Dale, holding a tiny paw out, "it really didn't seem that long. And they came out midway through! Why're you complaining?"

Chip grumped and crossed his arms. "Well, I just want to seal up as many worlds as we can," he defended.

"You just wanna sit and watch Maru own every Heartless and Nobody ship for miles, doncha?" Dale asked, elbowing his brother (right?) and looking smug.

"Watch it," cut Chip, blushing.

"We've got to go to other worlds, now," Maru said as he got back to the wheel and looked at the SM, now normal-sized. "Well, let's just see what we've got, here," he said, taking out the scanner. When it was done, he raised an eyebrow and wrinkled a nostril. "Sludge? What in the worlds?" he muttered. 'Thought that was what type it was by the color of the disc...' He shrugged and tried to scan it. To his surprise, he was able to. The disc crackled and blackened when he was done with it and had set it down.

"Well, looks like Maru learned, of all things, Sludge," Maru confusedly joked.

"Doo-doo-doo...doooo...?" went Navi a little.

'Gonna have to figure out how to use...whatever-kinesis this is. Hmmmm...Perhaps as a trap...' He then chuckled, finding it made sense, now. 'Hey, Koga's a ninja, and he's got Poison-types...'

Navi remembered something. "Oh! Maru!" she said, dipping into his collar and coming out again with an empty Full Heal bottle. "You're out of Full Heal!"

Maru paled at this. "That is not good! I need that for whenever I overextend my abilities!" he said tensely. "Where the heck can we find some, though?" he asked.

"Maybe Melee Arena?" suggested Dale. "There were folks from your world there, so why not run over and check?"

Maru nodded. "Good idea, Dale," he said. He plotted the course and warned everyone to buckle up as he gripped the wheel. "Here goes!" They rocketed off.

**Bit 16: _Melee Arena_ Pitstop(?!)**

Maru reentered the arena, Figment and Elliott following behind, and looked around. Another brawl was going on, and so everyone was watching again. He hoped that he wasn't going to be called anytime soon to a brawl as he dashed up the stairs to the level where all the shops were. He searched and searched, paying attention to the stores.

"When's the next time they're going to host another battle tourney?" asked a human boy to a human girl they passed by.

"Dunno, but my pokémon are ready for it anytime!" the girl answered.

Maru heard this and turned to the two. "Excuse me, you two?" he asked.

They stopped and turned, then gaped in awe. "WOAH! One of the brawlers!!" the boy went.

"Hey, you still got that creepy black pokémon?" the girl asked.

Maru nodded, making a shoving-aside gesture to dismiss it. "Do you know if there are any Trainer Shops around here?" he asked. "I'm in need of some Full Heal."

"Oh, sure," said the boy, pointing down the circular hallway. "It finally finished opening up. They've had trouble opening since they haven't been able to make new potions or anything, but now they can, so they're open."

"They accept both pokédollars and munny," the girl informed him. "You should head over there and get some stuff so you can help your pokémon out when you need to!"

"Thank you very much," Maru said, bowing. "Perhaps I could see you next time I participate in a battle tournament."

"That'd be awesome!" the boy said. Then both waved by and went off.

Maru faced the direction the boy indicated. "Alright, let's go," he said, and they continued.

"How's it feel to have fans, Maru?" asked Figment.

Maru sweatdropped. "Uncomfortable," he answered. "I dislike having many people know about me too much."

"Then why get up in front of everyone and battle here?" Elliott asked.

Mewtwo was silent. 'Because I'm behind an elaborate costume,' he answered. 'Because Maru is a fake.'

They got to the shop, to Maru's relief. He purchased five each of the following: Full Heal, Hyper Potion, and Revive. These were in case he was in a situation where he wanted to battle longer but couldn't reach a save disk in time. After shopping, he found that his partners were gone. "They said they'd meet back here after doing some shopping, too," Navi told him.

Of course, during this period, Maru was called to a brawl. He was genuinely surprised when he found a newcomer. "A Lucario?!" he asked, wide-eyed. "...It looks like a trophy..." He brawled his best in the 2-minute time period. He managed to grab the Smash Orb and used it. This time, though, he ended up with his Mis Form. As Mewtwo floated there, blinking from the unexpectedness, he wondered if his Final Smash, Drive, was random now that he had more than one form. He shrugged and began flying around, mowing people down with bullets and his magic/move attacks. He used his newest one (Poisludge in this form) as a trap that harmed any who ran into it and lasted for a while, even after he changed back to normal. He was, of course, victorious.

To his further surprise, he was the only one to remain after the results were in. He fought against Samus, Lucario, and Pikachu; all disappeared after the brawl officially finished. "Pikachu's...gone?" he muttered. He furrowed his brow. "I wonder..." He shook his head, dismissed his Keyblade, and ran back up the stands.

Thankfully, his teammates were there, waiting for him after they heard his name being called. They both had new weapons. Elliott wore armor that appeared to be made of wood slats tied together with vines--very jungle-like. None covered his tail this time. Figment's new cards were big and zigzag-edged with checkered backs. They said they also got Maru a gift--an Aquamarine Ring that raised his stats. Maru thanked them, put on the equipment, and led them back out onto the Gummi Ship.

While running off, he remembered Loxernette. 'She...She didn't want to do all that, did she...?' he wondered. 'What's with these folks?'

- - -

*Faints* FINALLY!! I did it!! And I've set a new record, too: Less than ten pages for a chapter in this fic!! w00t!!

*-*-*

Loxernette: *sits at a bar with Cardixa, sipping some alcoholic substance* ...blurted out a bunch of crap!

Cardixa: *sipping a pina colada* I KNOW!! Isn't FT the worst at introducing an unimaginative main antagonistic group in a KH fic?

*some guys in the bar stand up and aim at Loxernette with guns*

Guy 1: LOXERNETTE! You're coming with us or...or...*they aim at each other* WE'RE COMMITTING MASS SUICIDE!!

Loxernette: *sips her drink* Mmm-hm. Whatever. Just don't make a mess, boys. This cloak's fresh from the cleaners.

Guy 2: We're DOING this because of your CREULTY to TOYS!! YOUR PRANKS CAN ONLY GO SO FAR!! D8

Cardixa: *sweatdrops* Uhm...Foxy-Loxy? You DO know that they've got themselves wired with explosives, right? And this is your favorite bar?

Loxernette: *sips* Yup.

Guy 3: ANDWE'VEGOTYOURFAVORITEPETPOODLEFLUFFYKINS!! *holds up an unshaved white poodle with a tag, who whiness*

Cardixa: *gasps* No! Not Fluffykins!! Shouldn't you DO something?

Loxernette: *sips* Nope.

Cardixa and guys: WHY NOT?!

Loxernette: *sips, sets down drink, and expressionlessly does a few handsigns. In the background, a sound of static is heard, some people yell, and Cardixa and the guys all drop what they're holding and tear at their right ear, pulling out an earpiece*

Cardixa and guys: AWUGH! HIGH-PITCHED WHINE!! OWOWOWOW!!

Loxernette: *picks up drink again* 'cuz I know when I'm getting punk'd. Don't mess with the best, kidletts. *sips*

Guys and Cardixa and Fluffykins: *groans and stomps out the door, each grumpilly paying a smirking Arxeron $10*

Arxeron: *opens mouth as Cardixa passes by*

Cardixa: *a la The Scottsman from Samurai Jack* SHUT IT!!

*-*-*

Yey, finally made a real omake!! *trots off to work on composition*


	27. 17: Lodge Awaited Right Turn

**Bit 17: (interlude)**

Maru, Figment, and Elliott were up in their gummi ship, ready for their next destination. Maru looked at the screen and the two new planets. "Sheesh, can't those Navi-G's have more umph in them?" Maru muttered. "Only two new worlds again."

"Can't they squeeze out a third every once in a while?" asked Figment, crossing his arms and pouting.

"At least this makes it easier to choose where we're going to try and get ourselves killed next," Elliott said.

Maru chuckled. "That's one way of looking at it," he gave. "Alright...We've got a world that looks like...like..." He gaped. "...A sunken city?...No way..."

Figment raised his eyeridges and leaned over. "Could it be...?"

Elliott leaned over to look in wonder as well. "...The lost city of...?" he finished.

Maru wanted to go there RIGHT AWAY, just to see if it WAS the famed sunken city of legend. "But let's see our other choice," he said, and looked at the other one. He raised only one eyebrow at this one. "Interesting...Something looks quite different about this one," he commented. "It...has something about it that makes it resemble Melee Arena, somewhat..."

Figment blinked. "How can a big, snow-covered mountain have ANY resemblance to a tan, dusty arena?" he asked.

"I'll have to agree with him on that," Elliott said, half-eyeing.

Maru shrugged. "Must be a psychic thing," he said. "Still..." He smirked. "I've always liked the mountains, as little as I've been there."

"What? But what about the other one? I don't wanna freeze my scales off!" protested Figment. Elliott looked like-minded.

Maru thought for a moment before pointing out, "Think: You'll be colder on the mountain if you get used to the other one first."

The dragons thought about this for a moment, too, before sighing in defeat and making "go on" gestures.

"Thank you," Maru said before selecting the world. "Now, fasten your seatbelts, since you know very well, by now, how much fun I have behind the wheel here." He grinned evilly as the engines started.

The dragons yelped and raced to their seats and strapped in again before the ship rocketed forwards. (Pun intended...?)

-

A gigantic, snow-covered mountain towered above everything else. A plane with twin propellers that could pivot to allow for airplane-style forwards travel or helicopter-style hovering soared by. It passed by a snowboarder on a slope who braked for a second while it went by. It soared onwards past the smallest peak of the multi-peaked mountain.

Many hundreds of feet from the cap of the smallest peak, a figure flies through the air, followed a few seconds later by another. The first is an intimidating man in dangerous-looking clothing, and the second is a young boy in more casual-looking clothes. They both fall through the air with a snowboard in their hand...which they both place on their feet again before landing with a powder-spraying FWUSH!. The first landed just as the second appeared.

"Hah-HAAAAH! Spanked ya again, shrimp!!" crowed the man loudly as he braked a little before a natural corridor, looking behind him at the boy.

The boy frowned in sad disappointment as he landed and rode on. When he heard the remark, he looked defensive. He stopped beside the man and scissored an arm. "Hey! You won because I had that bail, that's it!" he protested.

The man clicked his tongue and shook a finger at him, leaning close down to his face. "Don't go trying to cover up the fact that you stink like a pile of month-old compost like that," he admonished with a sneer.

The boy backed away a little, grimacing—this man was, indeed, intimidating. "I-I-I'm not...I don't..." he stuttered.

The man barked a laugh and drew himself up again, crossing his arms. "You're not a good rider," he supplied, then looked at him with an unamused look, finishing with a hiss, "and you don't belong here."

The boy raised his eyebrows, then narrowed his eyes, clenched his fists and growled, shaking them, before hammering down the air with both arms and shouting, _"I am, TOO, a good rider!! And if I wasn't meant to be here, why would they pick ME, of all people?"_

"Because you're a GIMMICK, that's why!" scoffed the man, smirking and tilting his head back haughtily. "You're supposed to be some snowboarding prodigy. Everyone loves kids, right? Peh..." He frowned exaggeratedly. "Well, you know that little kids shouldn't play with the big kids, don't you?" he asked in a low voice, leaning forwards a bit again. Before the boy could reply, he smirked and shook his head, chuckling as he stood straight again. The chuckle turned into a near-full maniacal cackle as he looked skywards and laughed. He looked back with a wild look for a moment before abruptly changing expression to an unimpressed one. He pointed at the boy as he jumped, turning his board downhill. "I'm goin' to Peak 3 'stead of sittin' here on the bunny hill with the toddlers," he called over his shoulder as he rode off. "It'll take a million years for you to earn your way there...if you don't go cryin' ta MOMMEH, first!!" He finished this just as he rounded the corner, and as he did, the boy heard him cackle once more.

The boy fumed for a moment before sighing and lowering his head, looking downcast. "That jerk..." he muttered.

At this moment, in a spot hundreds of feet down from the cap of the peak and maybe 80 up from the boy, in mid-air, appeared three people.

"What the--waaooooaAUUUGH!!"

"AAAIIIIIIIIIEE!!"

"UUWWAAAAAAUGH!!"

FWUSH!

Kshh!

_THUDSH!_

"Huh?" The boy turned around and blinked in surprise as they fell, yelling. "...They're dropping straight..." he muttered, raising an eyebrow. They landed. "...But where's the Osprey?..."

Maru waved his arms as he teetered back and forth, sliding on his feet. "What-the-hell-is-going-on-here?!" he asked as he fought for balance. He looked down. "!" "A...snowboard?" He remembered what he'd thought back in Hawaii: _'__I'll be damned if I ever get on a board at all, actually; I don't have time to waste getting myself hurt for no good reason.__' _He groaned and facepalmed. 'Me and my big mind...Thanks, irony...'

"WHEEEE!!"

Figment slid by him, riding a round, trashcan lid-like thing as he went. "THIS WAS A GREAT IDEA, MARU! I LOVE SLEDDING!!" he called as he went by, laughing.

"I didn't know they even MADE skis this big," commented Elliott as he slid up beside Maru, who was regaining his balance better now that he knew what he was on.

Maru looked down and widened his eyes as Elliott rode on skis each as wide as his snowboard, which was a BX-style one. Elliott's skis were mostly black with an interesting, mostly green sparking design near the fronts on top, the name of a website on the right in green...on each. "I think you're riding on snowboards, to tell the truth," he muttered. (Elliott, dragging his tail a bit, slowed down and started hanging back from him.)

"Uh, Maru? How do we brake?" Figment asked over his shoulder.

"'How do you...??'" the boy repeated to himself, gulping and leaning away a bit. "Uh-oh..." He turned, hopping, and started to ride away.

"Why?" Maru asked before looking up and seeing the boy that they were all zooming towards. He raised his eyebrows. "Turn sideways!" he answered. He followed his own instruction and began to brake.

"But I can't!" Figment reported back. "Mine's round!"

"Then..." Maru began. Behind him, Elliott tried to brake...but the hill and his speed worked against his ineptness.

"Woah-oh-OOOAAAAHH!!" the dragon cried as he suddenly slid out, slammed onto his back, and started tumbling down towards them.

Maru looked back at the cry. "Eh?--ELLIOTT!!" he squeaked moments before being caught up in the snowball Elliott was becoming.

Figment saw this behind him, screeched, and started to pull himself forwards with his paws to try and escape...to no avail. He got caught up in the snowball and was carried off, yelling with the others.

The boy looked back over his shoulder as he heard yells and a rumbling sound. He saw the snowboulder comically forming and yelped, as well, before facing forwards and accelerating, somehow. The snowboulder crashed into the glass sign at the beginning of the stone corridor, then into the wall of it, rolling around the natural rock wall's curve to slingshot to the boy. He looked at the shadow forming around him. "THIS can't be good!" he said before the ball crashed down on top of him, the snow breaking away, with a _B-DOOM!!_.

After the powder cleared, there was nothing but lumps of snow. And a blade of purple grass. A crow cawed, echoing across the mountain. Maru groaned and sat up, shaking the snow off of him before holding himself and shivering a bit. "Th-That wasn't p-pleasant," he grumbled. He shoveled snow out of his collar like one would his shoes (which he would have to do later). "Navi, you alright?" he asked.

The fairy, bluer than usual, came out after some snow was taken off of her. She coughed. "Fine," she said weakly, shivering as well. "Just...cold..." She went back into his collar for warmth.

"The others...!" Maru gasped, looking around.

"Unngh!...Nngh!..." Maru turned his head a bit away. The boy was coming out of the middle of the snow pile, having had it land right on him. He was grunting muffledly as he made his way out of the mound. Then, with a gasp of air, he burst out, throwing snow off of his head. "UWAH!!" He shook his head, relieving his own blonde, messy lid of snow, before blinking his somewhat small, brown eyes. His freckled face was red from the cold. "Augh..." he panted, crawling out (revealing his board had detached from him). "That was fun..." he said, stopping and shaking himself like a dog, "...in a twisted kinda way..." The boy stood and brushed himself off. He wore a white sweater underneath a blue t-shirt with two white stripes on each shoulder down the grey-hemmed sleeves. "GRiff" (sic) was written on the front in white, black-outlined handwriting. His pants were grey with cargo pockets, and his boots (they could only see the foot parts from the pants) were blue, yellow, grey, and black in some stripes. His gloves were black, save for the tops of his hands and the tops of his second thumb joints.

Maru stood up and started to run. "Are you—WAH!" He'd forgotten he was still strapped to a snowboard, and thus fell onto his face with a grunt as if stepping on a shoestring.

"Huh?" The boy looked over and saw Maru. "Hey! You're alright!" he said in surprise. "But the others..." He looked around concernedly before spotting two strangely-shaped mounds. One of them was moving, the bigger one. Elliott grumbled and unearthed himself, too, from his side, where he'd fallen. Maru, looking up from the snow as he got up, noticed he had on a pair of ski goggles (which had somehow gone down to squeeze around his snout) and a green-and-magenta striped scarf. He brushed the snow out of his hair, stopped and noticed his goggles around his snout and put them back over his eyes, then shook his head, ears flapping, and winced as he bopped the side of his head, knocking snow out of his other ear. The smaller one wasn't moving still, though. "Hey! Kid!" the kid cried before he ran over to it. He skidded at it and dug through it, scraping snow away. "You okay, man? You feel really..." He stopped, finding the sled. "...frozen. Oh." He lifted it off and raised his eyebrows. "No! He's not here!" he cried, finding nothing but a hole there.

"Couldja keep it down??" Figment demanded, poking his head out of the hole and looking a little cross. He also wore a pair of fluffy purple earmuffs. (The boy jumped at this, dropping the sled.) "Can'cha let a guy get some shut-eye in his snow cave? Sheesh! I was starting to have fun!"

The boy stumbled back, blinking in surprise, before he realized he was half-kidding and started to laugh. "Ah-hah-hah-hah!! Well, sorry, just thought you'd died!" he apologized as Figment chuckled, crawling out.

Maru got a good look at himself while getting his bindings off. His glove cuffs had lengthened all the way up into his shirt, becoming actual sleeves. The shirt itself had thickened considerably and untucked, becoming a jacket, a two-ended zipper having appeared on the front. It was slightly unzipped from the top and bottom, revealing his belt buckle and the fact he now wore a plain black t-shirt underneath. The flaps of the unzipped parts showed that the lining was the same as his cuffs, explaining the thickening of the shirt. Also, his gloves themselves were now actual gloves (relatively thin ones, though they felt as warm as thicker ones), forming black fabric where there was nothing before. His cloak now reached down to the bottom of his bottom instead of to the small of his back. Finished with the bindings, he stood and turned to look at everyone. He breathed a sigh of relief. "Everyone's alive, good," he said. 'Unless we now all have hypothermia...mainly the dragons...' He walked to the boy, looking a little sheepish. "You're alright?" he asked.

The boy looked at Maru. "Huh? Oh!" He grinned widely and swung his arms, nodding. He knew how to smile PERFECTLY. "I'm a-okay, trust me!" he answered. "I was wanged by a boulder in the backcountry by accident a bit ago—a rock one. This was nothing!" As the others came over (Elliott carefully stepping with his ski-boards, looking properly cartoonish), he crossed his arms and smirked at them. "_I_ should be asking if all of _you_ are okay," he said smugly. "If you're gonna drop down onto the slopes like that, you'd better know how to brake, you dummies! But I've gotta admit," he added, laughing, "that was an EPIC bail, man!! Heh-ha-ha-hah!"

Maru anger-veined, but merely crossed his arms and said, "Sorry. We didn't know that'd happen."

The boy stopped laughing and shook his head, batting an arm. "Nah, dude, that's fine," he replied. "Just..." He turned, worried. "...kinda lost my board..." He returned to the mound he came out of and started to dig.

Figment walked over, taking his sled. Maru saw he also had yellow mittens on, now, too. "Man, Maru, this place is fun!" he commented up to him, grinning. "We just appear and we slam into a kid in a giant boulder. Talk about an entrance!"

Maru shushed him, looking nervously at the kid. He didn't look like he heard. Maru bent down and whispered, "Quiet, before you make us seem crazier than we are!"

"Where...grr...Ah! Hah-HAAH!!" The boy cried in triumph as he brought out a basic-looking blue and black board from under the snow a bit behind where he fell. "Found ya!" He stood, satisfied, and turned to the others. He dug an end of his board in the snow, knocking what was still on it off, and leaned on it a bit. He raised an eyebrow at them. "You dudes want some pointers? 'Cuz it looks like you've already taken the crash course," he chuckled.

"And failed," Elliott added, frowning a bit.

Figment laughed approvingly. "Nice one!" he pointed quickly as he leaned forwards a bit, grinning.

Maru frowned a bit, face reddening (but not from the cold). "We were caught off-guard..." he defended in a murmur. 'But...we really don't know anything...' Louder, he said uncertainly, "Alright..."

The boy smirked cockily at Maru. "What, don't trust me?" he asked. He put a hand on his hip and shook his head, still eying him. "Thinkin', 'He's just a kid, what does he know,' right?" He chuckled, then thumbed his chest, puffing it out proudly. "Dude, I'm Griff Simmons, SSX competitor—which means I'm one of the best riders in the world!" he boasted. He looked at their surroundings, motioning to the mountain around him. "And if you wanna survive here on BIG Mountain, you'd better know your stuff, man, 'cuz she takes no prisoners!"

**Bit 17: BIG Mountain**

"Hey, who are you guys, anyway?" Griff asked, coming over to the group, holding his board to his side. "Not every day you see people dropping straight down onto the slopes without a plane, heh-heh."

Maru bit his lip. 'He's observant...' He nodded. "Maru. He's Figment, and that's Elliott," the Keyblader answered, looking at each comrade in turn.

"You...don't look that surprised at how we look," noticed Elliott.

Before Maru could translate, Griff turned and shrugged. "Meh, hey, I've already been here only a couple days and I've already seen some pretty weird stuff," he explained.

"WHAT?! Oh, COME ON!!" Figment cried hurtly. He put his free paw on his hip, pouting. "Everyone can understand him but a fellow dragon!! What GIVES?!" he grumbled.

"So you ARE dragons??" Griff gasped. He grinned excitedly and jumped a couple times, fists held up and shaking. "Dude, that is SO COOOOL!!" he went, kinda breathy, but kinda voicy, if you can understand that.

The dragons blushed. "That's the first time someone's actually been happy to see us," Elliott chuckled, raising an eyeridge. Maru translated for Figment's sake.

"Anyway, those pointers," Maru said.

Griff turned and nodded. "I know, hang on," he told him. He looked back at the dragons. "Well, I'm not sure about skiing very much, but at least to brake, you've got to skid and lean back, I think..." he told Elliott. "Um...Figment, right?...You might wanna use your tail or your hands or something to stop yourself," he advised. "Otherwise, I bet you can steer by leaning. Maybe stick a paw out, too."

The dragons nodded. "Right!" both said.

"Now, um, Marly, right?" Griff turned.

Maru half-eyed. "MarU," he corrected.

"Sorry! Um, Maru, you didn't seem to have that much trouble...you know the basics of what you should do?"

"Just lean to turn, lean back a bit when going down normally, bring the board sideways to stop," he listed. "That's all I know from watching people on tv and from my own logic."

"You're forgetting 'making sure your legs aren't super-straight'," Griff added. "Alright, you're gonna have to learn to jump, too..."

A few moments later, Maru nodded. "...I got it. Seems pretty intuitive," he said.

"Good! Then meet me down at the Green Station up ahead! Don't worry, you won't get lost," Griff said, dashing off. He jumped and did a move Maru only thought possible on skateboards—a Caveman. (In other words, he jumped with his feet and landed on his board to ride off like it was nothing.) His bindings were even over his boots and everything.

Maru tilted his head, confused. "How...?" he muttered before shaking his head. "Alright, you guys get the idea of yours?" he asked his teammates.

They nodded. "I actually get skiing a bit," Elliott said.

"I've sledded before, just never really had to brake in a round one," Figment replied.

"Then let's go," Maru said. He got his board, looking at it for a moment, starting on the bottom side. There was a background of silver jigsaw pieces and a Master Ball half on each end (as in, the top half was on the front end of the board and the bottom on the back) and looking like they'd fit together around the black heart motif, to which the pieces flying from the one on the top wrapped around to get to. (They turned from silver on top to black on the bottom, the top having a background of black pieces outlined by violet.) 'I can deal with it,' Maru thought. (He also noticed that Figment's sled was dark blue with yellow stars on it, and Elliott's skis were black on the bottom.) He strapped on the violet bindings and stood up, took a breath, and went.

It was fairly easy, actually. He got his balance fairly quickly, adapting quickly thanks to the way he worked (being made for battle like he was helps in physical activities in general). He suddenly felt an urge when he was nearby a log sticking out of the snow, something akin to a Reaction Command. So, he hopped on and 50-50d it, heart pricking as it broke partway down. He started to build up speed, the air whipping his hair and cloak...his heart pounded a little harder...Pulling away from the others a little, he carved around a turn and found a jump ahead.

Another urge...not like the one before, but a real one...He crouched and sprung off the lip of the jump, soaring. He went into a quick Method without thinking, almost, before he realized just how long he was going through the air...how high...like...'Like...'

"Flying..." he whispered.

He landed, board-first, on the snow with a satisfying smacking slam, PAAM!. He rode on, smiling slowly as he stared off into space, almost.

"Nice Method, man!" Griff called ahead of him. He was at the entrance to a lodge, off his board and smiling.

"This is..." Maru muttered, excited. He suddenly grinned and looked at a rail, jumping at it. He grabbed it when he didn't quite make it, pulling into an invert before he sprung off forwards to land in a FS Boardslide. He kept his balance and jumped off near the end, doing a quick backflip. "...LIKE FLYING!!" he joyfully shouted as he went. Another PAAM! and he landed, correcting his board before pulling it into a brake at the lodge.

Griff was looking at him with wide eyes and high eyebrows. "DUDE! You SURE you've never snowboarded before?" he asked incredulously, laughing a bit. "That was pretty slick for a newbie!"

Maru smirked. "You could say I've done something similar," he replied. "And thanks."

"Flying..." Griff looked around, smiling a bit. "Yeah, some people are able to get so much air, that's basically what they do," he said. "They've got natural-born talent." He grinned at Maru, punching him lightly in the arm. "Looks like you're one of 'em, man!" he laughed.

Maru smiled faintly. "Um...yeah, I guess," he said. 'I'm not so sure about that 'natural-born' part, though...'

They both yelped at a spray of snow as Elliott came skidding up, looking a bit frazzled but thrilled. "Hoo! That jump surprised me," he huffed when he stopped.

"Wooaahhh—ho-hoooh!!" Figment went as he tried to brake behind Elliott, at first not doing it right but then slowing enough so that he just lightly bumped up against his friend's tail. "Wow, good thing my mittens are waterproof," he said, looking at his paws.

"Unlike the rest of our clothes?" grumbled Maru, looking at his own still-damp gear from the snowboulder. They were drying quickly, though...or were they freezing? "...We should get inside," he said. His elation had died down a little, but it was still there. 'That really felt like flying...The speed, the feeling of soaring, the freedom...'

"Right," Griff nodded. "I'll show you around, and if you want, I'll buy you some snacks. I need to reload, anyway," he offered, looking up with those smallish-but-friendly eyes.

Maru smiled a bit. "Thank you very much," he said. He bent down to get his bindings.

Griff raised an eyebrow after a second. "Just grab 'em and yank," he said, shrugging.

Maru raised an eyebrow back, but he tried it. To his surprise, they freed him instantly. "That seems a bit dangerous," he mumbled.

"They're built like that to make sure the board is alright if you crash," Griff said, before smirking and chuckling, "among other things." He saw Elliott was done (having gotten his off just as easily as Maru) and beckoned. "C'mon, slowpokes!" He started to run on in.

"Coming!" Figment called, chasing him.

"Wait for the slow people!" Elliott complained, jogging after.

Maru remained, looking offended. "'Slowpoke'?! Don't get ME confused with that sorry excuse for a Psychic-type!!" he growled, grabbing his board and following behind.

'SOMEONE's inner Mew is showing,' Navi mused.

-

They entered the surprisingly large lodge. A bar was in front of them, part of a café with a few tables around. Beyond them to the left, they saw the boarder's shop. Through a doorway at their right was a rec room of sorts. They saw a pool table, a fireplace, and a tv. And, of course, there were a few people there. A guy behind the bar counter sighed in boredom before the door opened and in came Griff. He perked up and smiled. "Oh, hi, Griff!" he greeted.

"Heya!" Griff waved brightly as the door opened again behind him.

The guy at the counter raised his eyebrows as Figment came in, followed by Maru, then (after squeezing through) Elliott. "Oh! Um...Welcome to the Green Station Lodge!" he greeted, soon smiling normally again. "Sit a spell, get some gear, just don't make too much trouble."

"Oh, these guys kinda ran into me, actually," Griff shrugged, looking at the trio.

The man raised an eyebrow. "Ah." He looked at Maru. "So, you three all friends?" he asked him.

Maru turned and looked at them. "They're with me," he decided to answer. This earned confused looks from the dragons.

"Guys, you can go hang out in the rec room for a bit; there's a fireplace there," Griff told them, pointing to the doorway. "I'll be right there—just gotta get some stuff at the café. Oh! You guys want hot cocoa, coffee, what?" he stopped from talking to the man again, looking over his shoulder.

"Cocoa, please!" Figment ordered, almost sing-song.

"...Green tea...um, with a hint of mint, if you can," Maru shrugged.

"You don't need to, thanks," Elliott shook his head. (The counter guy tilted his head and mumbled something about mumbling.)

"You sure, Elliott? They've got the kind with marshmallows!" coaxed the boy.

Elliott smiled brightly. "If you insist, but I'd like it extra-large!" he gave in.

"Right! Back in a bit!" Griff turned to the man. "Alright, first, I'm out of everything but Craisins..."

Maru and co. decided to go to the rec room as Griff had suggested; they attracted the looks of most of the people at the café--in particular, one guy with some crazy cornrows...dreads...things. They found the rec room scantly populated. Only three people were inside, two of them just a pair of girls standing and gabbing while playing some pool. A third one was too busy in front of the tv, DDRing her little heart out. Maru glanced over and raised his eyebrows at the mess of arrows over a background that had the word "TSUGARU" on it. The song was intense and infectious, but she was playing it relatively softly. 'That's on Heavy and she's doing pretty damn good.' Maru then led the group over to sit around a coffee table by the fireplace. He sat in a recliner, Figment a cushion on a wooden chair, and Elliott, since he was so oversized, on the floor.

"Well, where'll we start?" asked Maru. "Looks like people aren't freaking out about you two, so we might be able to pull through alright without going and hiding you guys like in Hawaii."

Figment shrugged. "I dunno," he said. "Any Navi-G's around?"

Maru got out the radar and shook his head. "Nope," he said. "At least, none nearby. Looks like we're to leave after finding the Keyhole again."

"And who knows how long THAT'S gonna take?" Elliott mumbled, frowning. Behind him, the girl finished the level and pumped her arms up in victory. Maru's ears perked up a bit when he heard her unmistakably cheer, _"Yatta!"_ panting a little while she went to see her results. She sounded young, but not child-young. She was just pretty short.

Maru raised an eyebrow at that, but looked back at Elliott and shrugged. "Sorry, but that's the way it goes," he said. He looked around him. "Though, I wonder, where exactly are we? A ski resort?" He noticed the young woman stepping off the dancemat and getting her boarding boots on. "I mean, Griff said it was called BIG Mountain, and there's some competition here, but..."

The young woman grunted as she put them on, but when she heard a creaking, she looked up and raised her eyebrows. She scooted away a little bit, looking a little unhappy but not scared, when the crazy-haired guy from before came in. It looked like his outfit included a modified and highly designed straitjacket made into a board jacket. He looked awesome, yet his wide eyes made him a little intimidating. The guy wasn't exactly smiling, either, as he crossed his arms and went over to Maru. "Hey, Purple Carrottop," he called, stopping by Maru. He suddenly bent over and got RIGHT in the Keyblader's face. "Never seen YOU 'round here before," he hissed, exaggeratedly raising an eyebrow and tilting his head. "You a _N00B_ or sumfin?" he asked, voice normally pitched again. He jeeringly drawled out "n00b", though. He grinned unsettlingly at him, awaiting an answer.

At the bar, waiting for the orders, Griff gasped when he realized who it was that was talking, and he was talking to Maru. He went to the doorway and watched, worried. Beside him, the young woman finished getting her boots on and stood up, looking disapprovingly at the scene with crossed arms.

Like most people, Maru's first thought was, 'This guy's crazy.' His next was, 'He's trying to intimidate me...' He had noticed everyone else had, in their own way, taken a step back from him when he entered the room. Maru gave his best Mewtwo glare back. "I'm new, yes," he replied calmly. "Any problem with that?"

The man chuckled and drew away slowly, shaking his head. "Ah-hah-haah, nah, NAAAAW," he said strangely. "Just that you'd better prepare to get PSYMONIZED!!" He held his hands up like claws and bared his teeth at him while he said this.

Maru raised an eyebrow. "'Psymonized'? THAT'S a new one," he commented, crossing his arms.

"YEah, it's what I do to folks who try and get in my way," the guy explained, standing up again and putting a hand on his hip. He then abruptly changed face to look snotty while he apparently looked up and examined his fingernails. "So, uh," he asked, sounding suddenly calm, "what peaks can ya get at right now?"

"Peaks?" Maru asked under his breath, tilting his head. 'Crud! Do I need some sort of pass...?' He looked all over his person and felt something in the pocket that had the card Figment gave him that, apparently, changed him to be in winter garb and to have a snowboard. Right now, it actually had a picture of him on it, labeled, "Maru," and behind him had a shot of the whole, tri-peak mountain. An outline went around the first one. "Peak 1 Pass" was on the card as well. "Erm...Only Peak 1," he replied, looking up. He widened his eyes as he saw the man looking at the card and stroking his short beard, tilting his head side to side and looking a bit cartoonish with his snobby examination of the pass.

"_Mmmmmm-hmmmmm_...Meh, good, that means--" He whipped his head up and smiled evilly at Maru. "--you got nowhere to hide," he finished in a monotonous half-hiss. He kept his insane face on in front of Maru's face.

Maru blinked and crossed his arms, raising an eyebrow and half-eying. "Nice try, but I'm not so easily intimidated," he informed him.

The man reeled back with a surprised and hurt look on his face, mouth in a small "o". "Excuse ME? You think I'm inTIMidating you?" he asked, mock-hurt, putting a hand on his chest. He then laughed and shook his head before walking off. Griff gasped when he turned and raced to the bar again, pretending he didn't notice. "Psymon Stark," he called back. "Remember it, 'cuz it's what's gonna be called out when I get the GOLDEN, baby!" He grabbed his board and left the lodge, cackling.

Maru stood and crossed his arms still. "And I thought I've seen some weird people," he commented. The rest of the lodge then went back to business as usual.

"Man, that guy gave me the creeps," Figment said, looking up at Maru and shivering.

"That was AWESOME, man!!" Maru turned and looked down to find Griff standing there, holding a tray piled with a bag of different candies and their drinks (his was a normal-sized hot cocoa with marshmallows). He was grinning like mad, looking with amazement and admiration at Maru. "You handled Psymon like he was NOTHING!!" he commented.

Maru smirked a little, sweatdropping a bit, as well. "Erm," he said, holding up a hand, "it was nothing. I'm really not that easily intimidated." '_I'm_ usually the one intimidating others...'

Griff closed his mouth and just smiled. "You've got serious skills, man, _serious_ skills," he complimented. He remembered and went, "Oh!" He suddenly held the tray with one hand and stood straight, arm across his chest after clearing his throat with that fist before his mouth. He half-eyed and frowned a little, head held up a little. "Your refreshments, sirs," he said like a dignified waiter, leaning to them with the tray.

"Thanks, Jeeves," chuckled Figment as he jumps up and grabbed his small hot cocoa. "Oooh, smells heavenly..." He blew on it and took a cautious sip, then grinned. "My compliments to the chef!" he thumbs-upped to Griff.

The other two took their drinks before Griff, laughing, sat down and set the tray on the coffee table. "Sorry, I had to," he apologized for his bad humor.

Maru wouldn't admit it actually amused him a little. So he just nodded...and smirked. "I've heard worse," he said, glancing at Figment.

"Hey! Want me to make that iced tea, instead?" Figment threatened playfully, flipping out a Blizzard card.

Maru raised an eyebrow warningly at him, glancing at Griff briefly, and Figment got the hint. He leaned back and looked at Griff, who was loading his pockets with the sweets. This was when Maru noticed something.

This kid was practically vibrating. Nearly every second, he was fidgeting or moving around in general. Even when he was standing still, he gave a twitch or two every so often.

He sweatdropped. "Um...Just asking, how much sugar have you had?" he asked cautiously.

"More than most people can handle," Griff answered back with a giggle and a grin.

Elliott joined Maru as his sweatdrop grew, but Figment laughed.

Maru looked up when he noticed someone coming. "Hm?" They turned, and Griff started a little and blushed.

"H-Hi, Kaori," Griff greeted quietly as the young woman from before came over. "How're you?"

Kaori was a little taller than Griff. She (currently) wore an orangy-red-orange poofy-collared sweater with four brown stripes on the top and on each upper arm, yellow-orange and black gloves, a belt with a golden buckle with a star etched onto it (or was it part of the sweater?), tan fitted pants with red leg warmer-like bottoms, and black boots with a orange on the sides of the soles. She wore her hair in pigtails, and it was brown. She looked cute when she was smiling, her brown eyes sparkling. _"Konnichiwa!" _she greeted brightly, waving. She paused a moment before slowly saying, smiling sheepishly, "I am ar—a_l_right, Griff-kun." She looked at Maru and looked even more sheepish. "So sorry about Psymon-san."

Maru raised an eyebrow. 'She looks...Her accent...and perfect pronunciation of...Better double-check.' "Are you...Japanese?" he asked. Kaori nodded and Maru smiled and returned in perfect Japanese, "That's okay, he wasn't a problem."

Kaori gasped and asked, in the language, "You speak Japanese?"

"As good with it as I do English," Maru replied.

Kaori squealed. "Oooh! That's so cool! You're so lucky to be able to speak both so well!" she exclaimed. "I didn't even recognize any accent..." She peered at him a bit. "But now that I think about it, you do look Japanese. I should've known." She blushed and giggled. "Oh, sorry...Nishidake Kaori." She bowed her head.

"Everyone calls me Maru," Maru returned, bowing his back.

Kaori smiled cutely, bobbing her head to the side a bit. "It's nice to meet you, Maru-san!"

"And you, Kaori-chan," Maru nodded back.

"Um...Guys?" The two Japanese jumped, snapping out of their happy discovery of finding someone who speaks their language, and turned to Figment, blushing (both blushing pretty redly). Figment smirked wryly. "Much as I love the language, I doubt anyone else here understands it," he said in Japanese.

Kaori looked sorry, sweatdropping a little and bowing before she realized the little problem there. "You...wait..." she stopped for a moment before laughing. "So funny!"

Figment smirked, and Maru raised an eyebrow at this. "Smart-alec," he said in English, and Figment sniggered.

"Anyway, I'm sorry, but we really should stop; it's rude," Maru said to Kaori, looking sorry. "Maybe later."

"Okay!" Kaori nodded, smiling. Her phone chirped some cute sound effect and she took it out of her pocket. 'Wait, that's pretty big for a cell,' Maru realized when he saw her take it out and flick with her wrist to slide it up and open. 'Especially a Japanese one...' Kaori read what was on her screen before nodding again, putting it back in her pocket. "I must leave, anyway," she said in English, pointing over her shoulder. "I wiru—wi_ll_ see you again, maybe! Bye, Maru-san!" She bobbed and waved cutely at him. She looked and blushed. "Oh, sorry...you, too, Griff-kun!" she added.

"Y-yeah, bye, Kaori," Griff said shyly, waving, and she left after another wave. "I really fail around girls, man..." he muttered weakly, frowning a bit. "...Just like I do with Psymon..."

Elliott frowned in concern at this. "Huh??" Figment went, raising an eyeridge. "You LIKE that guy??"

"What? No!" Griff said, looking up and over at him, looking a bit offended. Then he realized what he was insinuating and blushed deeply. "WOAH! D-D-_DUDE_, NO!! Not even CLOSE!!" he stuttered, waving his hands, and Figment cackled.

Maru brought his fist straight down onto his head, keeping it there for a sec while he said, "Timing, Figment. Timing."

Griff smiled and shook his head. "Anyway, you can speak Japanese?" he asked Maru. "That's so COOL! I'm really envious. I wanna go to Japan someday SO bad...all my favorite games come from there, and that's where anime was born, and ninjas and stuff, too, and they've got all that cool STUFF!" He sounded normal again. Well, normal for him, which Maru was quickly understanding to be energetic, very.

Maru smiled sheepishly. "Well, thanks, but America's pretty nice, too—Japan doesn't have as varied terrain as you do. Heck, for a lot of Japan, it never snows," he added, looking outside the window.

"Really??" Griff asked in horror. "That's gotta _stink_, man!"

Maru shrugged. "I don't mi—" he began before a scream from outside cut him off. They looked out the window in that room, big and bright from the snowy landscape and saw Kaori backing away from something, along with a few other normal people. Maru swore in Japanese as he shot out of his seat and started to bolt out before realizing he still had tea, pausing, then bolted it before bolting again. 'I was so busy talking, I didn't notice the Heartless had come!'

"Maru! Where are you--?" Griff called, setting his cocoa down. He looked up as the dragons got up to follow him, setting theirs down. "Huh? What...?"

"Thanks for the cocoa, but we've gotta go-go," Figment said as he grabbed his sled and dashed off. (While he ran, he tossed a card to a spot in a corner nestled by the tv. It landed and became a save disc. Inexplicably, nobody noticed.)

"Sorry!" Elliott apologized as he carried his skis out, going as well.

"What's going on...?" Griff muttered, watching. He blinked in confusion before getting up and running out, grabbing his board from its resting place on a rack on the way out. "Wait for me!!"

-

Outside, Maru found a group of five people, including Kaori, cowering from a crowd of Heartless coming from a building with a plane outside. A glass sign near it read "TRANSPORT". Maru growled and ran, driving his board into the snow and summoning the Keyblade. His comrades just chucked their stuff with his board while they got into position with him. "Kaori-chan!" Maru called to her over her shoulder, then ordered, "Get everyone back into the lodge and stay with them!" in Japanese.

Kaori nodded and shouted, "Hey!" to get attention from the group before beckoning back to the lodge. "Go, go!" They started to charge back, but Kaori paused and thanked Maru. Maru nodded to show he heard.

Griff opened the door just to yelp and squeeze up against the wall as the group came in. "Sheesh, run over the kid," he said sarcastically when it was over. Kaori came in when he started to come back from the wall. "What's going on, Kaori?" he asked.

"Monsters!" Kaori answered in a squeak. "Stay, Griff-kun!"

Griff raised his eyebrows. "Monsters?!" he gasped, and before Kaori could stop him, he was out the door and down the steps.

"Griff-kun!!" Kaori called after him. She futilely said, "It's dangerous," in her language.

Griff turned to look at where Maru and the dragons were standing, still, ready to face off, and gasped. "She was right..." he whispered, slowing to a stop.

Maru looked back to see if everyone was inside and saw Griff. He cursed and glared at him, waved his arm back--"Get AWAY, you idiot!!" in body language.

"Maru!" Figment alerted, and Maru looked forwards and had to guard against a blast of Blizzard magic.

"GRIFF, DON'T DO ANYTHING STUPID!!" Maru roared as he advanced, looking over his shoulder.

Griff nodded and gulped, then watched, mouth agape, as the battle began. New Heartless were there; they appeared to be skiers, with long scarfs and riding goggles. They rocketed around on their own and liked to attack by jumping and spinning, charging, or using their poles. They would also use Blizzard magic sometimes. The snow also provided a hazard; if one of them skidded by and sent a wave of powder, it was essentially the attack Powder Snow. Maru discovered that, yes, his teammates counted as the Dragon type and were hurt worse by the attack than he knew they should be. Navi soon called these guys SkiFreeks. (BIG-ASS bonus points to anyone who knows the game I'm referencing to there :) ) There were also a few _white_ Darkballs, oddly enough; they looked exactly the same, though, except they let out hearts when defeated. (Darkballs are Purebloods, not Emblems. Later, upon closer examination in the Heartless section of the Pokédex, their emblem was found in a hard-to-find place: A small spot behind their right antenna on top of their head.) The Darkballs were white, it appeared, to strategically camouflage with the light background. Navi decided to make a special entry for these guys, calling them SnowDarkballs. The entry she made was, "These Emblem Heartless are just like normal Darkballs, but they're literally the polar opposite. Their white color hides them in the snow much better than black. They're just the same, otherwise, so go ahead and use the same tactics."

After all of the Heartless were gone, Maru panted a moment before wiping his brow. "Sweating on bared skin...Not good out here..." he muttered.

"But at least we don't feel cold anymore!" Figment said happily, jumping up and down.

"And it's actually fun to fight on snow," Elliott added, smiling. He sniggered. "Ooooh, great, now I wanna start a snowball fight..."

'We'd SO beat you,' Maru almost said, but stopped himself with a body-halting blush. 'Great, I'm getting silly again...' He instead looked over at Griff, still standing there wide-eyed. "You alright?" he asked the blue-shirted snowboarder. He frowned at him, crossing his arms. "That was dangerous, and you should've gone back inside. You could've been hurt."

Griff stood for a second before going, "That...was...KILLER, man!!" He ran over and jumped up and down around them. "Oh, man, you guys are COOL! That was AWESOME! You were like, BAM! WHAM! And you kicked their butts HARD, man! I can't believe it! It was like watching something out of an anime!! But it was in real life!! Frikkin' SWEET!! Oh, my God, you're all on some cool adventure, aren't you? Can I come? Huh? Please? Please?? Huh? Can I? Huh??" (You think that was scary alone? He did this all on only two breaths.)

Maru and the dragons all blinked at him, going, "Uuuuuuuuh..." after this. Maru then put his face in his palm and shook his head. "I'd say SOMEONE'S been in the sugar barrel," he muttered.

"Naw, just lots of candy," said Griff, stopping his jumping and shrugging. He went and got on one knee and clasped his hands, begging. "PLEEEEEASE, can I come??" he asked.

Maru sweatdropped. "Erm..." 'Energy doesn't seem to be any problem whatsoever, but...' "Look, it's dangerous," he said. "The Heartless—those things we fought—take people's hearts, and that's not good. You'd get hurt. I doubt a snowboard would be a good weapon to use on them, too..."

Griff raised an eyebrow. "You kidding?" he asked. He got up, ran to his board where he'd dropped it, grabbed it, and came back. Abruptly, he went and swung it edge-on at Maru. Maru yelped and blocked it with his arm.

"OW!" Maru held his arm, rubbing it. "That hurt!!" he barked angrily.

"See?" Griff said, grinning. "And all YOU were using was a big ol' key thing," he said. "And I've been swinging sticks around for forever!!" He grabbed his board and swung it around a bit in the air. For an improvised weapon, he wasn't too bad with it. He gripped it mainly by a single binding and used wide strokes. He could also potentially block fairly well with it. "See? Plus, I'm a snowboarder--I've GOT to be sturdy or I'll break a bone and lose the race!" he added. "Come on, man, can I come?" he asked, eyebrows together in pleading.

Maru thought for a moment before he sighed in defeat. "Alright," he said, then pointed at him, "but WATCH YOURSELF. I don't wanna explain to your parents that their son's disappeared because his heart was taken and he was turned into a Heartless."

Griff gulped at this, maybe partially forgetting what he just said. "Huh?" he asked, throat dry. He shook his head, though, and clenched a fist. "No! I'm not gonna give up the chance to go on an adventure!!" he said. "Though..." He looked at his board, then back up to where they came from earlier. "I've got another adventure, too...Wait! Maybe I can do both!" he gasped, snapping his fingers. "Yeah! I'll just stick around with you guys while you're here!"

Maru chuckled and grinned sheepishly. "Well, that's...kinda what the plan was," he said. Griff went, "Oh. Okay!" so abruptly and okay-ly (I guess) that it caused him to laugh a bit. "Alright, um...welcome aboard, I guess," Maru shrugged. 'I hope I won't regret this...'

And, with that, of all people, 12-year-old Griff Simmons had joined the party, wielding, of all things, a snowboard. (You could imagine his glee and surprise when he later found out about what happens to your physical abilities when you're with a Keyblader officially.)

"Now, to find that Keyhole," Maru muttered. Griff tilted his head curiously.

"Maru-san!!"

The party turned and saw Kaori, followed by the other people they had defended, coming down the steps of the lodge and towards them. Kaori ran over to Maru and bowed. _"Domo arigato!"_

"Just doing our duty," Maru replied (in English), holding up a hand and smiling a little sheepishly.

"Hm?" Elliott went at the Japanese.

"She said, 'Thank you very much,'" Figment translated. Elliott nodded in understanding.

"What happened?" Maru asked.

"May I in Japanese?" Kaori asked. Maru nodded and she went off in her native tongue at a mile a minute. Maru stood and nodded.

Figment gawked at how fast she went. "I...can't keep up..." he gagged.

After Maru and Kaori talked a little more, they said good-bye and Kaori left to the transport station. The other people were there, too. As she left, she remembered something. "Oh! Griff-kun! Remember, Snow Jam, today!" she reminded him over her shoulder. "See you!!"

"That's right!" Griff gasped. "I'd forgotten about that!...Uh," and he cupped both hands over his mouth to shout after, "_a-arigato, Kaori...-chan...? _(That right?)" he asked Maru, looking at him and dropping the hand away from Kaori. Maru nodded.

As they spoke, a guy in a black and white jacket with a pair of big headphones on looked over at him, frowning a bit, before continuing to the transport station.

"Thanks...anyway, what happened?" Griff stood, crossing his arms. "She was talking like she does on her M-COMM...and that's when she scares me, sometimes."

"'M-COMM'?" Maru repeated, tilting his head.

Griff dropped his jaw. "You've never heard of an M-COMM?!" he asked in amazement. "Sheesh, they're just the coolest way to know all the cool stuff around the mountian, AND an awesome radio to the awesomest radio station I've ever heard--EA Radio BIG, hosted by DJ Atomika!" he explained."It's like a cell phone-slash-GPS-slash-PDA-slash-radio-slash-little bit of buttkick that they sell here and give to us competitors. Oh, yeah, Kaori's an SSX veteran," he added. He brought out his own M-COMM. It was a medium-small-sized, metallic blue PDA-like device with a sliding cover/screen, like some kinds of cell phones.

Maru raised an eyebrow. "I _thought_ that was a bit big for a cell phone," he murmured to himself. Louder, he said, "Looks good."

"Yeah," Griff nodded. He snapped his fingers. "Hey! Maybe one of these could help you find that Keyhole you mentioned!" he suggested.

"Huh? Oh...How'd you know it wasn't an ordinary keyhole?" Maru wondered.

Griff smirked. "Why would a guy like you be looking for an ordinary thing like that?" he answered in question.

"...Point." He shook his head. "I don't know if it could help...but...I guess it's the only lead we have. How do I get one?...Or why can't we just use yours?"

"I gotta have this on me in case my sponsors or someone else important like that wants to contact me," Griff explained, shaking his head. "Sorry, man, but hands off."

Maru frowned, but shook his head. "How much are they?" he asked.

"I have NO clue, but they're pretty good, so probably pretty expensive," he replied. "I've already blown my cash I earned from getting a gold last night on gear, sorry..."

"That's alright," Maru said. He put a hand to his mouth. "But how do we get one, then...?"

Griff frowned, then flicked open his M-COMM and pressed a button or two. Suddenly, music started to come out of a speaker on it, startling Elliott, who had lowered his head close to see it. "Oh, sorry, Elliott!" Griff apologized, chuckling. Elliott just looked a bit unhappy, but he said it was fine. "Hey, the song's over," Griff said.

"...Aaaaand you're back with Radio BIG," a smooth young male voice said. "Little mountain update quick: As I've said before, there's gonna be a little impromptu Big Air event at Crow's Nest down on Peak 1 for amateurs. The winner gets a shiny new M-COMM, courtesy of Rob & Bob's Board Shop. Dunno if it applies to you or not since a lot of people listening to this station have one," he chuckled, "but for those of you still sittin' at home listening on your dad's old boom box from the '80s, you might be interested...though if you're thinking of grabbing your board and heading there now, good luck, 'cuz it starts in 10 minutes. Maybe you could catch a seat and sit there with said boom box, though, heh-heh...Anyway, it's gonna be fun, and I'm gonna love seeing what poor slob comes and freaks out at the height the second jump gives 'em. Don't worry, folks, the snow's soft...they'll just break a leg. Nothing out of the ordinary. In other news, the hospital's just confirmed its 200th case of broken bones this season. Interesting, no? Anyway, gotta take a break, but when we come back, it's some good ol' pumpin' sounds, and we'll be back quicker than you think, so stay tuned to EA Radio BIG." It cut to a commercial, and Griff turned it off.

"You hear that, Maru??" he asked excitedly. "You could enter that contest and win an M-COMM!! C'mon, Crow's Nest is just down there!" He pointed down the path. "You just gotta pull the biggest tricks in the air you can think of, and it's in the bag!"

Maru raised an eyebrow. "You sure I can do it?" he asked. "I mean...I'm a newbie to this..."

"Maru, you were able to do a backflip off a rail that fast without bailing on your FIRST DAY on a board," Griff said flatly, crossing his arms. "C'mon, you got the skills, man!"

"You? Underconfident? What's wrong with you? You just gonna wuss out?" Figment asked, trying to hit a nerve.

"Wuss--?!" Maru shook his head, coming to his senses. "I'll kick that contest's rear into next week!" he boasted.

"THAT'S the Maru we know!" the dragon chimed.

Maru raced over and grabbed his board. "C'mon, let's go," he said, sitting down and getting the board onto his feet and standing up.

"Right!" Griff grinned, running after him.

"This sounds like it's gonna be fun," Figment commented to Elliott as the larger got his skis on. Elliott just nodded.

They went off, riding to where they needed to go. The signs pointed them in the right way, with "BIG AIR" in purple at some junctions. Nobody else was there, oddly. "Must all be there already," Maru muttered.

"Or it's because of those guys," Elliott suggested when they were met with SkiFreeks.

"Oh, you're..." Maru grumbled before getting his Keyblade out. He then found he was in a bit of a binding—he couldn't hit much on his rear side. Thankfully, getting struck at a high speed like that when you're trying to balance yourself generally does the trick if you've been thinking of having that yard sale you were going to have five weeks ago, as Griff put it when he socked one of them. So, they were able to defend themselves pretty well on their way there, and nobody got knocked down.

They reached the entrance to the event, which was packed with about 20 people, and they stopped. "Maru, you're the only one who can do this," Griff said when they got there. "I'm a pro, so I can't do it, and you're the one with a snowboard."

"Alright," Maru nodded. "Where do I sign up?"

Someone heard him and came over, and things were handled. A few minutes later, Griff and the dragons were in the stands (with people looking in interest at the pro and the dragons). "C'MON, MARU!! KICK THEIR BUTTS!!" he cheered.

The competition was set up to be fast: Only one run per person. Thankfully, beforehand, they allowed people to go down and practice before the actual thing started, so Maru was given a chance to get used to the course.

Midway through, he decided that, next to battling, this was his favorite sport.

His adrenaline pumped through his body after the second jump, which was, indeed, huge. But what made many people gulp ahead of him was the giant quarterpipe at the end. He saw this as another chance to have fun. 'This IS like flying!' he realized as he went towards it. 'Not just the aerial action, either—the mindset I'm in, where I'm focused on looking at my environment and asking how I could have fun with it while I'm hurtling at life-threatening speeds!' He started up it, crouched, and wound up. 'But this...I'm restricted...and yet so...' He jumped, flipping and spinning, grabbing his board, heart pounding. '...so...'

Something clicked. His binding. His foot was...

"FREE!!"

Before he knew it, Maru was hurtling to the snow without his feet in his bindings, the board only in his hand as he spun it around him like a staff.

On a monitor looking over the end of the course, where he was, Figment and Elliott panicked. "WHAT THE--?!"

"IDIOT--!!"

"COME OOOONN--!!" Griff cried, hoping.

PAAMM!!

He landed—feet on board, board on snow.

Griff joined his cry of elation. "YEESS!! Maru, you're gonna ROCK this place!" he shouted confidently. "If you can pull out a Smithereen like that so soon into your riding career..." He frowned suddenly. "Shoot, he might have more talent than I do," he grumbled, pouting, and the dragons laughed.

Maru panted at the finish line, adrenaline pounding. "How...I...That..." He chuckled and shook his head, getting off and walking to the lift back up to the top. "...Has to be illegal..."

"Dude, nice Über trick!" said one of the guys who walked to the lifts with him.

"Nice what?" Maru looked over.

The guy nodded, smiling. "Dude, you sure you're not a pro? Only the most talented can do that kinda stuff! Some of 'em can even pull tricks where I swear the board should fly away, but it doesn't, somehow," he said.

"Wait, it's legal to do that?" Maru asked, surprised.

"'Course it is. If it doesn't look offensive and if you're not trying to hurt someone, the judges generally don't care and will eat it up! Heck, you do that kinda stuff in the contest, I can kiss that M-COMM good-bye!" the guy laughed.

"Really...Thank you," he said, nodding to him and getting on the lift. He put a hand to his chin and thought, board on his legs. 'If I can do that legally...hmm...'

-

A few minutes later, and the competition began. Maru, last to sign up, was last to go, and thus had to wait for a few more minutes. He spent the time wondering what he should try and do.

He leaned on a fence, arms crossed. "Should I try and do a 540 backflip with a grab first, then do a big flip-spin and a single grab? What about the Über at the end?" he muttered. (He realized that he could only do an Über trick when his adrenaline was pumping as it was, since it gave him the extra strength to break his feet out of the bindings, not to mention the confidence in his movements.) "Should I do that one again? Or should I try to do something bigger? Or..."

"Why don't you just do what comes naturally?" Navi suggested from his collar.

Maru looked down, raising his eyebrows. "I might not be good enough," he answered, "or I might overestimate."

"Do what comes naturally or do the craziest stuff you can think of," Navi said. "I've heard of this sport—and a phrase that its participants use a lot: Go big or go home."

Maru frowned, but nodded. "You're right," he admitted. Navi "nodded" curtly. He looked up at the scoreboards as his name was called. "Well...here goes," he muttered, pushing off of the fence.

He got in the starting gate and went over some last thoughts. 'Go big or go home...do what comes naturally...' he thought. Then, he looked up, gripping the gates. 'Why not both?' he mused, narrowing his eyes. "Let's kick this contest's ass," he muttered as he was given the okay to go. He pulled out and got on the course again.

Above in the stands, his teammates cheered him on.

The first, small jump (which didn't count as a jump, really) gave him the chance to pull a little thing—a FS 360 Front Flip Stalefish, netting some points there. Then he made his way to the first REAL jump, wound up, and released. He went spinning and flipping and grabbed a couple times before he realized that he was going to flip too much before landing and kiss ice. 'Gotta stop flipping--!' he thought. He prayed this wouldn't disqualify him as he pushed with some telekinesis to stop his flip seconds before landing. He did it in time and landed safely.

"Wow, he can even stop his flips, too," Griff noted as the crowd roared. The screens showed that he had done a FS Double Rodeo Method to Late Indy.

Maru felt his adrenaline pumping—he was ready. He charged for the jump—unwittingly actually going faster than he normally should—and launched, going into another huge flipping spin. And he grabbed a foot out of his bindings. Then put it back to do the other, then another, quick, then one more before landing. He'd done an Ambulance Trip 1080 Steppin' Out to Late Combo Grab, apparently.

His adrenaline was pounding through his veins, the excitement building up like never before in his snowboarding career. As well, his head felt...amazing. 'The adrenaline...' He knew his eyes were glowing a little and a chance pounded in the fibers of every muscle on him. "...I must be crazy--!!" he grunted before hitting his last big jump.

He put all of his efforts into not a flip-spin, but a normal backflip, which he liked better than front flips. He did a Tailgrab...then he eased his flipping to a halt (at flip count two and three quarters, leaving him "standing" parallel) as he detached the board violently, ripping it to the side, away from his legs, and slashed the air in front of him with it, almost spinning as he switched hands and used it to sort of "support himself" like an angled post he was balanced over, forming an acute angle with him being the horizontal line. He kicked out with each leg, spun with a roundhouse-like kick and rotating the board 180 degrees around its axis before grabbing with his right, following through with a heel kick in the same direction. Then, he whipped the board around tossed it, spinning it propeller style, while he used his telekinesis to keep it in orbit around him as he crossed his arms and tucked his legs in the position he takes during his up-throw when he was still Mewtwo and was in his first appearance in the Melee. He held this for a short moment, letting the crowd wonder at this feat, before stopping and grabbing the board telekinetically as it got to his left side with his right hand and swinging it forwards out again in a lash, smoothly returning it to his hand like it was on a rubber band, then putting his feet back onto it. The whole time for the trick was about five seconds, actually, and he BARELY made it. He could have gotten away with it better if he hadn't held it for a second like he did.

The point is, he landed it, let out a mighty, _"YES!!" _and rode to the finish. He got a few more points by hopping onto a rail and doing a BS 360 Boardslide before he got to the end. He panted and panted and panted, pumping his arms in personal victory. "How's that for big and natural?" he asked Navi.

Navi chuckled, "shaking her head" in his collar.

Maru waited for a few moments while the judges tallied up the scores. He'd been told to stay at the bottom after his run. He waited...and waited...The other people who competed all crowded around, asking how he did that trick, and what it was called.

Eventually, however, the woman announcing the starts and results of runs, telling who's going up and what place they're in, came over the PA: "In third place it's Damien, in second it's Gordie, and in first it's Maru!!"

Maru pumped his arm in victory before wiping his forehead. "They didn't disqualify me for anything," he mumbled under his breath. "Thank God."

He got to stand at the top of the podium with the other two, where he just did some bows and thank-yous.

After that, he was approached by some official looking people upon getting off the lift up. "Ignoring the flips, what was that Über called?" asked a man with a clipboard.

Maru frowned and thought. "I don't know," he said. "Um..." 'Let's see...well...no...um...' After a moment, he had it. 'It looks like it's defying physics (as if going this high and staying in the air this long isn't, already)...and I fight during it...' "'Physical Assault'," he named, then gave his reasons.

"...Aptly named," the man with the clipboard said after writing it down. "Alright, here's your voucher. Head down to Rob & Bob's and redeem your M-COMM. We'll call ahead, just in case."

"Thank you, I will," Maru said, taking the slip of paper. It was really a certificate, signed by the judges and entitling him to a free M-COMM.

*****RECEIVED M-COMM Voucher*****

*-*-*

*Chip and Dale are on the Gummi Ship. Chip is folding a paper airplane out of a normal 8.5''x11'' piece of paper while Dale is scurrying around the bridge, setting up hoops from the ceiling and from the ground in a course. They finish and Dale comes back up.*

Chip: Ready?

Dale: *checks a sheet of paper, then the course, then nods* Ready.

Chip: Then here we GO!

*They push off, piloting the paper airplane as it glides around. They get it through the hoops until it lands on the floor, at which point they high five and get back to the dashboard.*

Dale: *hits the quick-frequency call button and waits, then makes a face when the image comes through on the screen* Neeeh! We got it our first try through!

Chip: *smirks, arms crossed* Next?

Cid: *on the screen; facepalms, then laughs, shaking his head* Well, you boys sure are productive! Alright, lemme send you the next one...*types on the computer*

*A moment later, the printer prints off a sheet of paper with instructions on it, as well as a map of a course to go through. This time, there appear to be small fans placed on certain points on the ground, blowing up.*

Cid: *smirks and crosses arms, leaning back in chair* Well, let's see you try THAT on for size! You figure out what to do here and I'll be impressed!

Chip: *salutes* We'll do it in our sleep! Chip and Dale, over and out!

*The screen blips out as the communications are severed.*

Chip: *sweatdrops as he looks at Dale, who does the same to him* We have GOT to find something better to do with our time while those guys are away.

Dale: *nods*

*Back in Radiant Garden*

Cid: *sitting and working on a new course* I have GOT to find something better to do with my time while those guys are away...

*-*-*

Bad omake, I know, kinda cooked it up. Anyway, yeah, UPDATE!! More to come sometime soon. I hope. This one took a LONG time to figure out what to do, so...yeah. Hope you like!


	28. 17: Getting a Little Boardercross

_Author's Note: The game whose world this Bit takes place in is called SSX 3._

Maru walked over to where the others were waiting. When he got there, they waved and started to approach...as well as a small horde. Maru sweatdropped at this and waved his arm wildly to hurry his teammates up. 'Okay, maybe I went a little _too_ crazy with that trick...' he thought.

Griff and the dragons started jogging over before Griff looked back and noticed why. "Yikes! Fans!" he squeaked. "Guys, RUN!" They poured on the speed and soon reached Maru, who joined them in the flight.

"Where's the nearest way to get to this shop??" asked Maru to Griff.

"Where you got off the lift!" Griff replied. "There're gondolas there that we can take down to the village where the board shop is!"

"Right!" Maru nodded as they dashed away.

- - -

They got to the gondola without anyone swarming Maru (or Griff, for that matter; he's a pro, remember). Thankfully, the lines weren't too big yet, so they didn't have long to wait. The wide, red cable cars had two poles and surrounding seating, capable of fitting a fair amount of people. Griff flashed his Peak Pass to the gondola operator. "Could you give me a gondola for me and my friends, here?" he asked casually.

"Of course, Mr. Competitor," said the operator, bringing one up. "All yours."

"Much obliged, man!" Griff waved as he trotted off to the gondola. "C'mon, guys!"

The party went on the gondola and down to the village. Griff swung around one of the vertical bars while the others sat inside and watched him with wide, somewhat disturbed eyes. Well, everyone except Figment, who was doing the same on the other bar in the other direction.

While on the ride, Griff asked, "So, why're you guys going around and beating those things up?" while still swinging.

"They're Heartless," Maru corrected, "and we're fighting them because we have to. As a wielder of a Keyblade, I'm obliged to secure worlds' Keyholes so that the Heartless can't take the hearts within. Yes, even worlds have hearts," he added when he caught Griff's eyebrows rising when he came around to him. Maru cocked his head and sweatdropped. "...You sure you're not getting dizzy?"

"Nah, do this all the time," Griff replied, shaking his head. "But actually...I'm startin' to believe that worlds have hearts thing," he said. "This place feels a bit...different from other mountains. I mean, all of 'em have atmosphere—heh, some reach the stratosphere—but this one is starting to feel different, the more I'm here..." He stopped for a moment and shrugged, facing the ones sitting. "Maybe it's just the circuit."

Maru tilted his head in a "maybe" kind of way. "Anyway, we are looking for one of two things: A thing called a Navi-G or the Keyhole," he continued. "The Heartless react to my Keyblade, and wherever I go, they appear, basically. I'm their enemy. Though...surprised that not many have shown up around here," he commented quietly, looking out the window. "Must be because this place is so huge..."

Griff, who had begun swinging again, chuckled. "Yeah, I bet the got lost and they're waiting for Ski Patrol to pick them up," he joked.

"Speaking of, why am I the only skier I've seen so far?" asked Elliott. Maru translated for Figment.

Griff scoffed. "No offense, man, but skiing's for..." He paused (both voice and body), realizing he was about to offend someone he didn't really want to, before continuing (again, both). "It's not as fun as snowboarding. Plus, skiers aren't that nice a lot. A lot of 'em are rich snobs who don't know how to have fun."

At this, Elliott gave a mischievous smirk that made Maru start at how much it looked like his own smirk. "Oh, don't worry, I know how to have fun," Elliott assured in a low voice. He chuckled.

Maru translated this for Figment, who raised an eyeridge. "That doesn't sound like the Elliott I know and love," he muttered. "...Well, ignoring the fact I can't understand you yet..."

When they left the gondola, they found a small town with snow-covered streets and houses. "This is BIG Mountain Village, in the middle of the three peaks," Griff said, holding his free hand up and around as they walked out onto the sidewalk. "Metro City is at the base of Peak 1, and is way bigger. Not to mention an AWESOME place to ride," he added, grinning. "I should know—I beat it. Guess being small means you can get some sweet shortcuts!" he laughed proudly.

"Shortcuts?!" Maru repeated in an appalled tone, looking hard at him.

Griff batted his hand. "Aw, stuff it, man—the whole city is open for us during races, which includes a few shortcuts," he told him, unfazed. "It's just like the city track featured in the last SSX circuits, Merqury City. They kept the theme of the track itself—Here's Metro City Breakdown, there's Merqury City Meltdown. Both have tons of cool shortcuts—but this one has a SUBWAY one!!" He shivered in delight. "That was the COOLEST grind I'd ever done in my life, not to mention the longest!" He sighed. "Anyway, got off-track...(heh, 'off-track')...This is where all of us are hanging out for the circuit. Kinda like in the 'lympics with the Olympic Village, but we didn't have to build anything special for us."

"Mmmm...Sorry, I don't condone foul play," Maru apologized. 'Why can't I help feeling like a hypocrite when I say that...?' he wondered. '...Oh. I used to be insanely powerful compared to 99.9% of other pokémon.' "...How many are in the circuit?" he asked out of curiosity.

"Let's see..." Griff lowered his head, putting a hand to his mouth. For a few moments, he was silent, and they just walked down the sidewalk, snow crunching under their feet. Then, he raised his head to around at Maru and replied, "Well, truth be told, I'm one of the ten main serious competitors this time around. There's a lot of old vets here, and you'll race 'em sometimes. That makes the official total 19."

"Hmm...interesting." Maru nodded and looked around. "So...where are we going?" he asked.

"Rob & Bob's Board Shop," Griff replied. ('I meant the route, but alright,' Maru mentally shrugged. Thankfully, Griff answered that, too, pointing as he spoke.) "It's just down here, then we turn right at the plaza, and then we have to go on until you see a mound of snow—usually. They're often almost snowed-in with a big bunch of snow in front—I hear they give a discount or something to anyone who successfully rides down it!" He laughed.

"Interesting..." Maru raised an eyebrow. "Does everyone here snowboard?"

"Well, it's a town situated in a mountain perfect for riding, with awesome conditions every day—except on stormy Peak 2—during this time of year, and pretty good conditions the rest of the time," Griff shrugged. "What else are you supposed to do?"

Maru raised an eyebrow, but shook his head. 'This has to be the strangest world I've visited yet,' he mused. 'Might even beat out Suburban Toyland.' He suddenly had a feeling...the oddly empty streets helped this out a bit. 'Almost everywhere Heartless appeared so far unless they were attacking the heart of the world, there's been nobody else around...I wonder why.'

Sure enough, all was not well and good. While in the roads of the village, they encountered some Heartless. Griff grabbed his snowboard and held one of the bindings with two hands. Maru decided to first fight alongside him himself to keep an eye on him before he trained Punjari more (which he planned to do next battle if he was satisfied with Griff's fighting prowess). Griff swung his board at the Heartless and darted about fairly quickly, using his 55 inches and 75 pounds to his advantage. He also had the idea to use Blizzard, himself, by throwing snowballs or by using Powder Snow, scooping snow with his board and swinging it broadly, damaging a wide area of enemies. The fact that he actually hit with his board was impressive enough, let alone his ability to get back up after taking hits, which happened quite a lot. He even got hit with a Large Body's charge, which was enough to bring most kids his age to their knees, but he actually recovered in midair and was back at it! Perhaps all that sugar was good. Speaking of, he also kept a huge supply of candy with him and was generous enough to share it with his comrades, claiming, "You need more sugar in your system!" The candy acted as mini-Ethers, restoring some MP for everyone. (This, in-game, would kinda be like Goofy's MP Gift ability or whatever it's called. It's the one where he gives MP to everyone for some of his own, an incredibly handy one since he rarely has any use for MP.)

Maru was impressed after their first fight together. "Not bad, really," he said to Griff.

Griff giggled while grinning up at Maru, board on his shoulder. "Tolja!" he said.

They soon entered the plaza, which was really a big, #-shaped intersection with a statue of someone in the middle of a relatively large square, benches situated around a bit. This time, Maru sent out Punjari, whose aura was, again, down a noticeable amount from the last time he recalled her. Punjari wasn't making any sign of discomfort, but Maru knew that she probably would rather have been in a warmer environment. He knew she didn't take damage when she went along, though. She entered Hyper Mode, finally, and so Maru had to go back to calling her. Now that he had a name from the very start, it worked a lot better than before than with Terroge.

Griff breathed a sigh and wiped his brow, panting a little bit, after the battle was over. "Alright, this is fun, but man, it's sure quite an exercise!" he commented.

Maru smiled and nodded, walking over after recalling Punjari. "Fighting other people is a lot harder than these idiots, but sometimes they make up for it with things people can't do," he commented. He smirked wryly. "But shouldn't you be used to exercise? You're an athlete."

"Yeah, but still...whooh!" Griff chuckled a bit. "Alright, we ready? Then let's get going over there," he said, pointing down a street. "We'd just waste time going anywhere else. There's nothing really interesting down anywhere else except for our housing."

The party went on down that street, which didn't last long before making a left turn at a big mound of snow. Behind it, surrounded by relatively flat, empty space (with the snow, it almost seemed literally as if it were on a big sheet of empty paper), was a building. "That must be it, huh?" Figment pointed at the mound. "Looks fun to ride down!"

"Yeah, it is!" Griff nodded.

Maru chuckled, then frowned. "Hmmm...something feels...odd," he commented, walking slowly as he looked around. "Like...Heartless might appear, but...they're not coming. I don't get it." He shook his head. "Just be prepared when we get out," he told them.

Griff went over to the crest of the mound and looked down and in. A few board tracks were seen going to the entrance. "Alright, just follow me," he told Maru before taking a running jump, doing a Caveman again. He rode down, then braked to catch himself against the wall with a grunt. He turned and beckoned. "C'mon!" he called up the eight-foot hill.

Maru, wondering if he was nuts, jumped and, as fast as he could, put his feet into his bindings before landing a half second after his fingers were clear. "WOAH!" he yelped, surprised he hadn't lost any digits. He braked and hit the door, too. He turned to see his comrades.

Figment, going, "WHEEEEEEE!!" still, came shooting down and crashing into the solid wood (with a large window the size you would see on screen doors without bothering to brake. Maru rolled his eyes while Griff commented loudly how awesome that was. Elliott was about to come skiing down when Maru realized something. So, he was able to maneuver himself in time to, with a mighty grunt, catch him before he broke the entrance, which they didn't have anywhere near the money to replace.

After they had gotten from their simple (relatively) vehicles, the party entered inside. It was built log house-style, with two floors (the top maybe being living quarters, since only the first was open to the public). Racks of boards, bindings, and wax covered the floor. It was the largest building they'd seen in the village thus far, but wasn't absurdly big. It was about as big as a medium-large-sized house. A (2000's-era) boom box on the corner of the counter played the mountain radio station. Two men were at the counter. One was in blue and had brown, short hair and no facial hair while the other was in red and black, having blonde, slightly longer hair and a short beard. They were of the same general build and height. Uniquely-designed boards and high-quality riding gear hung on the wall behind them. "Oh, hey, welcome!" said the guy in blue, leaning over on the counter at their arrival. "Nice ridin' down that lump out there, by the way." He raised his eyebrows as he saw Griff and smiled. "Oh, hey, Griff! What's happenin'?"

"Nothin' much, Rob," he answered. He thumbed behind him. "Just brought my new pal here, Maru, to get his M-COMM."

"Maru?" The other guy, apparently Bob, walking over, raised an eyebrow. "You're the third guy to come in today saying you're Maru," he said skeptically, arms crossed.

Maru raised his eyebrows, blushing a little. "People were trying to imitate me...already??" he asked in a little awe. "It hasn't been 15 minutes! That's insane!" He grumbled and shook his head, walking over and getting the voucher out of his pocket, unfolding it out onto the counter. Rob & Bob leaned down together to read it after he turned it to them. "I'm the real one," he told them confidently.

'...The real one...' he couldn't help but think as they carefully looked it over. His face fell a little as he contemplated. 'The real one...Ash helped me realize that I am as real a pokémon as any other...but what about...at Melee Arena...?'

"Well, looks as legit as anything," said Bob suddenly, bringing Maru out of his thoughts and folding the voucher up, pocketing it with a smile. "Wait right here, 'kay?" He turned and went into the back.

Rob leaned on the counter, looking at Maru impressedly. "You actually pull that trick?" he asked. "That...'Physical Assault,' you called it?"

Maru nodded. "It just came to me, that's all."

"Heh...you should be on the circuit if that's what you pulled outta your butt," Rob chuckled. "Since you did that one-of-a-kind Über, news traveled fast. Honestly, the fact people can go out and grab purple wigs like that that quickly is insane..."

"Are these M-COMMs that valuable?" asked Maru.

"_Yea-ah!"_ Rob answered as if it were the most obvious thing on Earth, giving him an "are you serious?" kind of look. "Those things cost $1200 a pop with all the stuff on 'em the pros, like Griff here, were given."

Maru winced. "Yowch...sounds like an easy profit online if they already have one," he said.

Bob came back with a small silver box with a mountain logo on it. "And here you go, Mr. Maru!" he said, giving it to him. "Congrats!"

"Thank you very much," Maru said, nodding and taking it with a smile.

"Anything else? We've got wax, goggles, hats...you name it, if it's snowboard-related, we've got it," advertized Bob a bit energetically, motioning around the store.

"No, thanks, I'm fine," Maru declined, holding a hand up and smiling politely.

"Can we look around at the boards, though?" Griff asked hopefully.

Maru raised an eyebrow and turned to him. "You can come here anytime," he reminded him. "It's not like I'm your dad and I need to drive you or anything."

Griff chuckled, though his face fell a little. "Awww, heh-heh-heh...Yeah, I know, just wanted to see if it'd work." He shrugged.

"But WE can't come back here anytime," whined Figment. Maru turned to look and saw a disgustingly adorable begging face, making him facepalm.

"Figment..." he growled/groaned.

"C'mon, we've got some cool stuff here," encouraged Rob. "It's kinda like an art show. People really go all out when designing boards, sometimes. Some are better than others, but 99% of the stuff we sell here is stuff we KNOW are good. In fact, we're gonna be giving a few freebies out to competitors if they...well, do something special that we haven't figured out yet," he added, looking a bit sheepish at the end.

Griff gasped. "Really?" he asked, hands on the side of the counter. "Cool!"

(Maru, finding them distracted, opened up the box and started to set himself up with the M-COMM. To his slight displeasure, he found a wireless pair of the infamous earbuds inside. 'But they're a bit more secure than the earphones, I guess...')

"Wanna know what's cooler?" Rob asked. "The ones we'll be giving out are exclusives given to us by designers who made 'em JUST for you guys!...Though I coulda sworn that one we're going to Mac is meant for Elise, dude," he added, looking at Bob.

"Hey, the big guys who run the circuit said it's for Mac," Bob defended, holding his hands up and raising an eyebrow. "I know the designer said he had Elise in mind when making it, but we can't just give it to her and get away with it..."

"Huh? Are all of those freebie boards picked by the bigwigs?" Griff asked, looking a bit confused. "I thought you just said the designers..."

"Yeah, the designers give us all but that one directly," Rob explained.

"Why? What's so special about it?" Griff raised an eyebrow.

"It's got blue, glowing edges," Bob replied plainly, no hint of a joke on his face or in his voice.

This made the party stand and blink for a moment in silence, Maru looking over with a raised eyebrow and holding the M-COMM in one hand and the earbuds in his ears. Then Griff went, "Awwwwwsoooommmme...Can I see it??" he jumped halfway onto the counter, excited.

Rob and Bob backed off a little, chuckling a little. "Uh, sorry, no," Rob replied.

"_Pleeeeeeease?"_

"Seriously, we can't," Bob chuckled. "We've been told not to. Besides, wouldn't you like to see it for yourself when he actually gets it?"

Before Griff could beg further or Maru could grab him by the scruff of his layered t-shirt, they all jumped and turned as something hit the door of the shop, followed by laughter. Through the window of the door, they saw a black man with dreads, a stylized goatee, an unlayered sports jersey-like t-shirt with the asterisk-like shape similar to the one on the Union Jack, black tattoos on the bared arms, jeans, a yellow helmet, and red-lensed black sports shades. He had a deep, hearty laugh as he stepped out of his bindings. He grabbed his board and opened the door into the store, and Maru and company moved aside for him to get in. "Aaah, man, ain't that always a gas!" he exclaimed as he walked in. He had a full, energized voice and a British accent.

"Moby!! What's up, Mistah Jones?" Bob greeted happily, coming over and holding his hand up.

"Aw, same ol', same ol'," replied the snowboarder, slapping some skin with Bob over the counter. He looked over to Maru and the dragons, raising an eyebrow as he looked them up and down. "Right strange stuff I'm seein' on this rock," he muttered.

Maru raised an eyebrow and crossed his arms. "Thanks," he grumbled.

Moby went over to him, looking Maru in the eye, then nodded. "I think I heard 'bout you," he said. "Bloke with a big, purple top goin' around with a couple weird-lookin' guys, how I heard it, abouts." He gestured to the dragons when he mentioned them.

"'Weird-lookin' guys'??" Figment repeated, paws on hips.

Moby let out a laugh as he looked down at him. "What you takin' that tone with big ol' Moby for, eh?" he chuckled. He laughed boisterously and shook his head, waving a hand. "Nah, just crankin' ya, don't mean no harm! Hah-haah!"

Maru shook his head, rolling his eyes and smirking a bit. 'Snowboarders are weird, if these guys are normal,' he mused. He fiddled with the M-COMM and got the radio on, then winced at the volume in his ears.

"By the way, purpley," Moby said to a volume knob-turning Maru, quickly getting his attention with the name, and he thumbed over to the door, "those blokes mates of yours?"

"Eh?" Maru and the rest of the party looked out the doors and each one of them jumped after seeing a giant mob of SkiFreeks outside. "WHAT THE--?!" He growled and started striding to the door, muttering agitatedly under his breath, "How'd they get here without me sensing them?!"

Suddenly, loud slams could be heard on the walls at different spots around the front. Rob and Bob jumped. "Yeep! The heck are they chucking, snow BOULDERS?!" Rob asked.

"You're not far off the mark," Maru called over when he saw them using Blizzard and their skis against the walls of the shop. "Why are they--?!"

"Alright, what the devil are those things, since you lot look so calm about this?" Moby asked, clenching his fists and frowning a bit.

"Moby, those things are, umm..." Griff began, then paused.

"...A bloomin' rotten pack o' sods?" supplied Figment in his best British accent (which was, of course, very good) as he started following Maru.

"Yeah!" Griff pointed, smiling briefly before looking up at Moby again. "They're NOT on our side, anyway," he told him. "They're Heartless, Maru says--"

CRASH!! One of the windows was broken by one of them hurtling into it, carrying on into a bunch of racks and knocking them over. Rob and Bob cried out in dismay and horror. Griff, who'd whipped his head around at the piercing sound like everyone else, continued, "--and call it my kid's intuition, but I think they're attacking the shop!!"

"They're WHAT?!" Moby roared, looking at the Heartless getting up and turning to them, ready to get some prey. "NOBODY messes with Moby's favorite joint, right—NOBODY!!"

"I don't think you want them messing with it, either," Figment said, raising an eyeridge, but he was ignored by Moby.

The SkiFreek started rocketing towards them, and Moby, with a roar and gritted teeth, pushed aside Griff (who yelped) and charged towards it. "An'nis--"

WHUMP!! The SkiFreek was sent flying by a wicked punt from Moby, who Maru noticed was pretty buff. It sailed into a wall and burst apart, heart rising up and away. Moby slammed his foot down. "--is why!!"

Maru blinked at this man's strength, both of body and of character. "...Interesting,"he murmured.

"Oi!" Moby turned to the group. He wasn't happy, they could tell, but yet he wasn't completely unhappy...he was smiling a bit. "Let's rout this lot before they do this place in, how's that sound?"

"Well..." Maru looked around at them. He had confidence Moby could handle himself; he was now feeling the same amount of energy Griff exuded, maybe even more. But how many...?

"They're attacking from all sides!" reported Rob, looking at some screens behind the counter.

Maru looked at him and nodded. "Thanks," he said. Looking back at the rest, he beckoned. "C'mon! I've got another teammate ready for this, so we can take three to an outside corner, splitting two sides between them!" he strategized.

"Dibs on the dragons!" Moby called suddenly. Maru looked at him in surprise. "What? Dragons are the bee's knees, even if they're a couple of poor cartoony-lookin' sots," he shrugged.

"Nice back-handed compliment!" Figment thanked sarcastically.

"C'mon, let's get this show on the road!! To the rear-left corner!!" Moby roared, charging past them and flinging the door open, grabbing his board.

"We've got this, don't worry," Maru called to Rob and Bob before leading everyone out. He put his M-COMM in his left rear pocket where it would hopefully be safe. (It looked very sturdy, though, and the little pamphlet with it advertized it being waterproof up to twenty feet, so the snow shouldn't hurt.)

*****RECEIVED M-COMM*****

*****OBTAINED Village Map*****

As they left, the dragons splitting off with Moby, they saw him charging through, shouting, "OI! _Get your knickers out of my face!!_"

Maru and Griff went to the front-right corner (facing the shop) and saw that there was a number of SkiFreeks around them. "Alright, Griff, you ready for this?" he asked the boy when they got into a good position to see both parts.

Griff, board at the ready, gulped and nodded. "Yeah," he said. "Moby'll be fine, by the way, don't worry."

"After seeing what he did, I'm not," Maru sweatdropped a little. He got his ball out, tossing it up and down a bit as they looked around, ready for combat.

'Gotta make sure they don't destroy the building more than they have,' Maru remembered as they charged out. He thought a moment. 'I'll bring out Terroge if things get too hairy and have him fight on his own...' He tossed out the ball. "Help us, Punjari!"

The battle was tough, indeed. Maru could gauge the damage of the building fairly well, and he knew it wouldn't last too long if they didn't keep Heartless off of it. Griff had the crazy idea of seeing if his M-COMM's map could show how many there were—and it did, at least after he charged it with some psychic energy, which let them appear as red dots. There were around 50 of them, he guessed. They saw that they were really just doing hit-and-run on the building, slamming into it before rocketing away a bit. So, maneuvering around the relatively flat and wide berth about the shop, he could stay away from the front porch fairly well and still defend it, he thought. It still wasn't exactly easy.

Griff was panting after a couple of minutes. He'd been hit a few times, but his use of specials helped him stay on top, as well as his wide range with his snowboard swings and decent damage to them. And, thanks to his endless supply of energy, he didn't have to worry about running out for using his special attacks. (In other words, his perpetual sugar rush gave him infinite MP. Well, 999 MP. That was used a little at a time.) Maru and Punjari took out a great deal of them together, but Maru had a worrisome time since he had to often attack on his own, leaving Punjari out of his sight. Overall, they had to dash to take care of one problem, then another, then another, and taking two sides of the building wasn't making things any easier. He suspected the other group was having a tough time, too, but that Figment's ranged attacks were helping considerably. 'For once I really would like him here...'

The building was hit a fair number of times, and the damage slowly went up and up. Maru gritted his teeth as he knocked another away before dashing to intercept another one's attack. 'At this rate, we'll be defeated or the building will before they're all gone!' he raged. 'They just keep coming...! How many are there?!' He got that one and turned sharply. "Punjari! Pin Missile!" he barked, and the sea urchin fired her spikes. She'd been called out of Hyper Mode a couple of times already.

Suddenly, he saw Griff get nailed pretty hard. "NOT cool, man!!" he shouted, swinging his board at the SkiFreek and nailing it back. He panted a bit, and Maru could tell he was close to out.

"We could all use some healing," he muttered, so he finished comboing another SkiFreek before casting Cure.

The battle wore on. Punjari was getting pretty hurt and tired, but Maru was keeping them all as healthy as he could with Cure and items. But they kept coming...'There's got to be a more effective way of dealing with these guys!' Maru thought.

Griff ran up by him, panting. "Maru, this looks bad, I know, but let's just be happy it's not an escort mission," he told him.

Maru blinked. "A what?" he asked him raising an eyebrow.

"I'm a gamer, sorry," Griff apologized. "It's where you gotta defend someONE who's too stupid to avoid danger...Woah, look out!" He pointed behind Maru at a SkiFreek charging towards them. They both dove out of the way, but Griff's legs caught with the SkiFreek's legs. The SkiFreek suddenly went flying, tripped, and tumbled up comically into a giant snowball, not stopping even when it hit other SkiFreeks, which just went up into the snowball (which kept getting larger). It slowed down...but it didn't look like they would break out too soon.

Maru gasped at this, then smacked his forehead. "Of course, so simple...!" he moaned. Finally feeling a chance, he dashed over and swatted the ball to launch it at more of them. He could do this a few more times before it got about three times his height—too big to move, at which point he jumped to the top of it, then jumped from there high up to swat a psychic-energy-enhanced Ember down at it. It struck it, sank into the center, then burst it apart in a blast of pyrokinesis, dealing massive damage to them all (defeating most of them) and hitting others around with the snowy debris. "I feel really stupid right now," he commented upon landing.

Griff was laughing and pumping his arm. "That was _A_-_HA_-_HAWESOME_, man!!"

The building was still doing alright. Punjari was still willing to fight, and Maru, to his delight, noticed that her aura was already at a pretty low level despite the relatively short time he'd had her. 'I wonder when she'll start to speak her name, like Terroge did,' he thought excitedly. (Truth be told, he found it kind of cool to, in a sense, be a Trainer who can understand his pokémon. As much a loner he was, Mewtwo never absolutely hated the company of other pokémon; he always felt more comfortable around them than he did around humans.) So, with a new method of dealing with these things in sight, Maru instructed Griff to keep fighting them off while he baited one into charging at him. He then felt a chance almost at the last second, and he nimbly ducked aside and sweep-kicked it as he did, tripping it up and making it roll from its momentum. From there, he did what he did before, getting as many as he could before blasting it apart.

He occasionally looked at his M-COMM. By then, he'd been able to get it to display the exact number of Heartless left. Before, it HAD been replenishing to 50, but now, oddly enough, extinguishing them using chances as he had been making them stay gone. "That's ironic; using snow to beat a bunch of skiers makes them go away," he muttered when he observed this fact. He also noticed that Griff was smart enough to trip them and get them into snowballs, calling him over whenever it was ready—at which point Maru would just launch an enhanced Ember from his current spot with the same chance.

So, eventually, he and Griff defeated them together. They got back to back, checking around, before breathing a sigh of relief. "That wasn't completely fun," Maru panted.

"You're panting? C'mon, have some...sympathy for the 12-year-old," Griff half-whined.

"You're only 12?" Maru asked, surprised. "I thought you were a little older...or younger...I can't decide."

Griff chuckled. "Yeah, I'm confusing, ain't I?" he asked, holding a hand up. He beckoned and started running off. "C'mon, the others might not've figured out how to do that cool thing you did!" he called. Maru nodded and ran after.

As he ran, he called Punjari to follow, which she did. He looked at her. "Your aura is almost getting to the point where there's that last stubborn blotch," he commented, smiling encouragingly. "You're doing amazing, especially out here. I bet you're freezing your spines off, though, huh?"

Punjari, as usual, just looked at him blankly.

Maru frowned a little. "...I think it might be best if you stayed in your ball for a bit," he said, bringing it up. "You seem to like traveling around in it, I guess." He smiled. "If I keep you inside until we're done here, I bet you'll be ready for purification! Alright, return. Great work hanging in there." The beam of light came out and recalled the urchin.

By then, they were on the other side of the building. There were still a few of the SkiFreeks left, but they apparently had figured out the method of defeating them. Well, _a_ method. Maru widened his eyes at the massive ball in front of Moby, who was rolling it around the old-fashioned way. He laughed jovially, "Ol' Moby's just having a bloomin' ball, here, ha-haaah!" He caught another away from him and Maru swore his shades glinted on their own. "Oi, big guy, take this one!" he called as he gave it a final shove to get in place in front of the SkiFreek. "C'mon, then," he clapped. It charged, and he tripped it. "And DOWN ya go!!"

Then, Maru looked up as a shadow descended upon the ball Moby had been handling. Elliott came down in a massive body slam on top of it, effectively doing the same thing as Maru had done with his enhanced Ember...just not as gracefully. He was wearing a grin on his face that told him he was having fun, too.

Elliott noticed Maru and Griff coming and looked up, waving. "Oh! Hey, guys! Come to join the fun?" he practically chirped. (Knowing how his language was, although I don't know how it'd sound, I suspect he just might chirp, too.)

Maru raised an eyebrow at all of this. "Well, looks like you're having an easier time than we did," he commented as the dragon rose and brushed snow off of his front. He frowned in a bit of concern. "You sure the cold isn't bothering you...?"

Elliott shook his head. "Nope," he answered. "Only when they hit me with it." He yelped a little and turned, frowning annoyedly at a SkiFreek before spinning and swatting it at Moby's current ball with his tail. "Like that," he said, ripping off the frozen chunks of ice remaining from the Blizzard spell.

"Anyway, should we help?" Griff asked. "Or you guys got this?"

"We're good!" Figment called from behind Elliott. They heard a Fire spell going off.

"Yeah, we're almost done," Moby said. "One more left...OI!! YOU'RE MORE ANNOYING THAN A MORRIS DANCER!!" he taunted to the last one. Stupid Heartless it was, it careened right towards him...and the ball. "Gotcha, you witless git," Moby hissed victoriously. "Greenie! All yours, mate!" He stood aside and made the "after you" gesture.

Elliott smiled dangerously again and leaped to body slam one more time. Maru noticed many Elliott-shaped depressions in the snow around them and chuckled a little. "Looks like he had fun," Griff said. "Like a big, scaly sumo wrestler or something..."

"Aaaah, and THAT takes care of THAT!" Moby announced, walking over and dusting his hands off. He stopped and lightly punched Maru's arm. "You've got some fun mates, mate!" he complimented.

"Erm...yes, my companions can be...a different experience," he replied, rubbing his arm. 'Light as he tried, that still hurt...'

"Your other mate help out?" he asked, crossing his arms.

Maru held the ball up. "That she did," he smiled. He put it away and noticed the eyebrow raise. "Don't ask, it's too long," he shook his head tiredly.

"We should check up on those guys," Griff said, thumbing over his shoulder to the shop. The others nodded.

"Yeah, let's hope they didn't scarper off..." Moby led them, running back in.

Maru watched after, then commented to Griff, "He might just have more energy than you."

Griff waved an arm. "Psh! Yeah, right," he scoffed.

The party jogged back in after Moby. Rob & Bob's Board Shop seemed alright on the inside, and Rob was cleaning up the glass from the broken window with a broom and dustpan. Bob was still behind the counter, talking with Moby. "...we were goners, and our shop, but you guys made sure that wouldn't happen," he was saying when the group came in. "Thanks."

Moby shook his head and waved a hand. "No worries! Was downright wicked, actually," he replied with energy.

"Man, why were they here, though?" Bob wondered aloud, crossing his arms and furrowing his brow.

"Maybe they wanted to steal all the snowboards?" Figment suggested.

"They're skiers, though," Elliott muttered.

"Maybe they got sick of 'em and decided to switch!" Griff laughed.

Maru walked to the counter. "You're all okay?" he asked.

Bob nodded, uncrossing his arms and giving a small smile. "Yeah, though we're gonna have to repair the outside," he answered. "Thanks for making sure they didn't break _through_ the walls, at least."

"It was a little bit of a challenge, but otherwise, it wasn't a problem," Maru nodded.

"Well, why don't I REMEDY that problem problem?!" shouted an angry, arrogant male voice with a SLAM! of the door.

They turned around and saw the boy with the black and white jacket from before. His headphones were around his neck, revealing his not-exactly-neat brown hair. His blue eyes were narrowed in anger. He snarled...right at Griff, who gulped for a moment before straightening his mouth, looking determined not to be intimidated. "Mac," he addressed. "What do YOU want, Mr. Master-of-Peak-1?"

Mac came over to Griff and pointed at him. "YOU'RE gonna be late for Snow Jam, that's what!!" he said. "I had to make 'em hold off the whole thing!" He spoke like a rapper. 'Great, Eminem Syndrome still exists,' Maru grumbled in his head.

Griff squeaked. "OH, MY GOD! I forgot with all this excitement!! Sorry!!" He blushed and pushed past Mac. "Guys, c'mon!!" he beckoned as he raced out the door. "AND THANKS, MAN!!"

Mac just scoffed and rolled his eyes. "Whatever."

"Gri-iff..." Maru groaned as he followed, the others coming with.

"Cheerios," Moby said to Rob and Bob before turning to run out again, grabbing his board (which he'd dropped before and picked up before coming back in, where he put it down again). He stopped by Mac, though, and looked him in the eye. "I've known you for years, and you've never gotten this hot under the collar just for something as puny as this," he said. "Heck, I didn't think you'd ever hold a competition just for some lil' kiddie."

Mac frowned in an annoyed way. "Just get yo' butt over there, you," he spat under his breath, jerking his head. They stood for a second before he turned and ran out, grabbing his board from outside on the way. Moby raised an eyebrow, then followed.

The group had to go through the streets again, which were mercifully uninhabited by enemies. "Mac prolly smacked 'em around on his way here, if anything," Griff shrugged. "He's not the kinda guy you wanna mess with, man."

"Yeah, dawg, 'cuz he's GANGSTA!!" Figment joked, talking like a rapper as well and gesturing with his paw at the last word.

Maru leered at him. "Just be happy we're in a hurry, or I'd've punted you for that," he hissed.

Figment frowned at him hurtly. "Sheesh, Maru, take a joke already, will ya?" he asked, voice normal again.

"I just find people who talk like that who...normally don't annoying," Maru alibied.

They made it to the gondola in time to get a car straight up to Snow Jam. This time, they all sat. "Man, I hope I'm ready for this," Griff muttered, looking a bit nervous. "Last time I tried this, I fell down in the final round and got sixth..."

"You'll do fine," Figment encouraged, smiling and patting his leg. "If you can handle a horde of Heartless with just Maru, you'll be able to handle a bunch of boarders trying to get to the goal."

Griff smiled a bit, but then sighed, looking a bit depressed. Maru found he didn't like that face much at all. "What is it?" he asked him.

"It's just...nothing," he shook his head. He took out a thick disc that looked like a round brush without bristles—board wax—from a cargo pocket and started to tend to his board.

Elliott frowned, thinking back. He remembered something Griff had said in the lodge...

"_I really fail around girls, man..." he muttered weakly, frowning a bit. "...Just like I do with Psymon..."_

Elliott asked softly, "What do you mean about Psymon, then?"

"Huh? Oh..." Griff paused his waxing and looked over and up before bowing his head, starting to speak a bit softly. "Yeah..." He looked back at his board and started waxing again. "He and I finished a race down Happiness right before you guys came. He won." He clenched his wax tightly. "Man, I just get over some serious circuit jitters and win the gold down at the Metro City Breakdown race, and he has to be a big fat jerk like that..."

"What did he say?" asked Figment, looking concerned.

"He said I shouldn't be here...that I don't belong here..." Griff somewhat aggressively rubbed his wax on the tail end of his board briefly.

"What? Why??" Maru asked, narrowing his eyes.

"Because I'm only 12...and because he prolly thinks that anyone he can beat doesn't deserve to be in the circuit," Griff grumped.

"You're only _12_?" Figment repeated in amazement. "Wow." He turned away, muttering, "That explains his ability to hold his sugar..."

Griff looked up determinedly, clenching a fist. "But I'm gonna show him!" he declared. "I'm going to medal my way up this mountain, all the way to Peak 3, where he and his cocky butt are, and show him why I'm here!"

Maru raised his eyebrows. 'The resemblance is uncanny...'

Griff continued, looking enthusiastically at Maru while he threw his fist away, "This has been, like, my DREAM since I first saw snowboarding on TV. I'm not going to just give up _now_, not because of some loser or some losses!"

Maru chuckled, then, smirking a bit and crossing his arms, said, "Good!" He nodded. "Just keep that mindset at the race, and you'll finish in first."

Griff smiled at him and nodded. "Yeah, thanks, Maru," he said. He chuckled. "You're not such a bad guy, after all," he commented, cocking his head and raising an eyebrow.

Maru blushed a moment before growling, "What gave--" He caught himself and cleared his throat to talk normally. "*ahem* What gave you that idea?"

"You can't take a joke, for one," Figment gave.

"And you seem really serious a lot of the time, too," Griff added. He looked thoughtful. "But maybe that's just because you're a bit more mature than me, and I don't get it, huh?"

"Nah, he's Mr. Serious Pants, nothing to do with maturity," Figment shook his head, batting a hand. He laughed and quickly shielded himself with his sled when Maru came to bop him in the arm.

"And what's THAT s'posed to mean?!" Maru asked, anger-veining a little as he half-eyed. "And quit calling me that!"

The others laughed. Maru pouted and pointed at Griff. "Just finish waxing—an uneven coat wouldn't be good, I presume," he grumped.

"Ack! You're right!" Griff squeaked, and he hurriedly got to waxing again, making the dragons chuckle more.

Maru couldn't help but feel a bit of a bond forming between him and Griff, however. The fight together...his encouragement he'd just given...and just the sense of admiration he was beginning to feel for the little underdog. 'I want him to win,' he mused. 'He's trying, and he's got personality...I hope he does win.'

** - - -**

Maru and co. got off and found a HUGE crowd roaring around them. There were six gates, and they were full, save for one spot. Another guy with a clipboard, a different one, ran over to Griff. "About TIME," he said aggrivatedly, frowning, when he reached him at the exit to the gondola station. "You're in the first heat, first round! In other words, get your butt on that board and get over there!" He pointed at the empty spot in the gate.

Griff chuckled nervously, grinning sheepishly. "Sorry, got distracted," he apologized. "Maru, get a spot to see the race well!" he said over his shoulder.

"Not surprised," the clipboard guy muttered. Then he did a double-take at Maru. "Wait, Maru?! As in, like, the guy who won that M-COMM contest?" he asked in a bit of awe.

Maru sweatdropped and backed up a bit. "Yes, why?" he asked uncertainly.

"Well, sorry to say, but at this point, Kaori Nishidake might not show," he answered, smiling a little sorrily. "We're getting kinda desperate...you're our best bet for a stand-in, since you're already moderately well-known for that trick of yours. If she's nowhere to be seen in the next heat, could you...?"

Maru groaned, facepalming slowly. 'Why, oh, why did I do that trick?...' He sighed and nodded, then looked up. "Yes, I'll fill in for her, if need be," he answered.

The clipboard guy clasped his hands together. "Fabulous! Thanks a bundle, Purple Carrottop!" he chimed before turning and leaving. "Gotta go make sure things run smooth! Bye!"

Maru anger-veined at the name. "IT'S JUST 'MARU!!'" he shouted after him.

"How about 'Guy in My Way'?" suggested Mac, whom they turned to. He still wasn't happy, it seemed. They noticed his board in his arm was strangely unmatching with his personality—it bore a hot dog graphic.

Maru half-eyed. "Chill," he muttered as he got out of the way. (Figment hid his smile at the unintentional pun.)

Mac eyed him at this as he passed, but just went on. "You'd be in my heat, dawg, so you'd better wish Kaori shows," he said as he walked off.

Maru frowned at this, but shook his head and made for the stands. The dragons followed.

Maru made sure to watch the race carefully when Griff began. He noticed that, while it was a race, the riders took the time to pull some tricks—which he was starting to get used to being wild and more than what they should be. 'Either it's this world, or it's just a bigger mountain than I thought,' he mused. He saw that there was a big screen with spots around the course that watched until all the riders were gone before switching to another one, and used this to get an idea of the course. Sometimes, though, the camera position was bad, leaving the rider behind scenery as he or she took a shortcut. "If I do do this, I'd better be ready for anything," Maru mumbled.

He also noticed numerous shortcuts and paths, with racers sometimes breaking through glass signs that explicitly said that the area was out of bounds. The judges didn't seem to mind, however. These shortcuts often helped out whoever took them, but most of the racers took the main route. Griff took any shortcut he could, although he almost missed some.

Maru pumped his arm as everyone cheered at the end. "Second place! He's going on!" he said under his breath. He looked at the riders getting in place for the next round. One spot was still empty. Kaori's. He frowned, concerned for his fellow Japanese. "Where is she...?"

A little while later, the female announcer from before said, "If Kaori Nishidake is not here in one minute, she will be disqualified. However, a replacement is ready. We thank you for your patience."

Maru sighed and stood up, grabbing his board (and wondering if he should wax it, too). Elliott and Figment looked up at him. "You getting over there in case she doesn't show?" Figment asked. Maru nodded.

"You don't think she won't show...will you?" asked Elliott.

"I'm not sure," Maru shook his head. "I hope nothing's happened to her..."

He got down to the starting gates. Around him were other pros. Next to him was Mac. Maru didn't get on his board yet—Kaori still had thirty seconds—but just stood at his gate. Mac looked behind him worriedly. "Kaori..." he breathed.

"Ah dunno if she's comin', sugah," said a smooth-voiced bald black woman in a fancy outfit with slimming sleeves and pants and big sunglasses. "She's usually heeah already..."

"I know, Seeiah; that's why I'm worried about her," Mac looked at her. He still sounded a bit big-mouthed and annoying, but calmer and less jeering. 'I have the feeling that's not the whole story,' Maru mused.

"If she doesn't come, then she doesn't come," said a tall, strong, blonde man in a skintight black top behind Maru. He sounded unshakably calm. "I'm worried, too, but I'm not going to linger on it."

"Aw, you and your Buddhist crud can Pop Shove-It, Brodi," Mac bit.

Brodi raised an eyebrow but shook his head and said nothing.

The announcer came on again. "Kaori Nishidake is officially disqualified," she said. "Filling in for her is the winner of the Crow's Nest contest earlier today, the physics-defying unknown, Maru!" The crowd roared nonetheless.

Maru sighed and set his board down in place. He stepped in and checked his security for a moment before nodding and grabbing the bars of the gate. To his left—behind him, really; he rode Regular, left foot forward—Mac scoffed. "You'd better get ready for a Mac Attack, dawg," he jeered, making rapper hand gestures. (If anyone knows what they're really called, help would be appreciated.)

Maru shrugged and looked forwards, focusing. He'd observed that knockdowns weren't illegal, either. It was a pretty wild sport, from what he'd seen. 'I should really know better by now on this journey to expect the unexpected,' he chastised himself. The countdown came and he got ready. The crowd roared, many banging on cowbells.

And they were off! "This is the second round in the first heat!" reminded the announcer.

Maru's instincts told him to block and he reacted with the condensed Barrier shield he uses as his Guard move to his left, blocking a hit from Mac. "You weren't kidding!" he said in a little surprise.

"I play to WIN, yo!" Mac shouted back. No more words could be said as all of them had to prepare for the small jump ahead.

Maru wasn't that interested in winning the race before, but now he wanted to beat Mac if anything. He didn't know the course well, but he knew that some jumps were alright, including the first big one. Hoping THIS wasn't cheating, he used some of his adrenaline gained from the jump before to power his telekinesis to boost ahead to the jump to have decent speed. His keen eyes spotted some energy trails coming from the other boarders—somehow, they were able to channel their adrenaline into a boost, as well. 'These ARE athletes of a different caliber, aren't they?' he marveled before he hit the jump and did a few flips and tricks.

He had analyzed the track enough to find that a log to the left of a jump ahead after a couple turns would give him a decent shortcut, so he took it, boosting off of it. He did a couple small, one-leg-out Übers in the air as he went. 'This feels so natural,' he noticed as he went. 'I might want to try this in my world when I get back...well, if physics didn't apply as much as they don't here...'

This landed him near a rail, which he squeaked at and veered from to the first "unofficial" shortcut. It was a big half-tunnel of ice! "Woah," he grunted, trying to keep balance on the slick surface. Somehow, he could carve still, or at least turn, but he had to be careful. There was a little kicker at the end and he took it, doing a couple more Übers as he went through the air.

He heard, to his surprise, "Maru is in first place, with Mac right behind him!" He looked around and saw Mac RIGHT THERE! He waved, grinning cockily.

"How'd YOU get there?!" he asked before shaking his head and focusing on the next jump...'Wait, I should ride around it...!'

"When Griff was talkin' back to me at the shop, he wasn't lyin'!" Mac replied. They both rode around the jump, going different sides. Maru took the right side. This took him to the inside of the next turn...where a rock, shaken off of a cliff forming a right wall to the turn by some fireworks or something, was rolling. He had to get through a pair of smaller ones that conveniently marked a faster way through, before...

"YES!" And Maru was jumping off into a foggy woods, the boulder behind him.

Maru continued down the course, taking as many shortcuts as he'd seen before and however many he could figure out from normal racing (inside the turns, for example). Sometimes he knew he wouldn't be able to make it, so he went as the track normally went. This lost him some ground ahead of Mac, and so the Keyblader took second at the end. He was happy with himself, regardless, because of how well he'd done on a first time through. 'And this was fun, too,' he added to himself while going on the lift back up. 'It felt like I was back home, racing Mew...going different paths through the city airspace and flying neck and neck at suicidal speeds...' He chuckled wryly. 'This place has been a nice break from the straight-up fighting, truth be told...I like it here. Once I got over the cold, of course,' he added, shivering at the memory of him and his damp clothes.

He noticed, as he raced, he heard different songs played over Radio BIG in his earbuds, and it was almost like it was personalized—whenever he accidentally bailed (which he did on more than one occasion), the melody line would drop for a little while, and if he got exceptionally big air, a flanger effect would kick in until he landed. 'I wonder if the radio station sends information on the song to the M-COMM and it reads what I do somehow...the earbuds might pick up brainwaves, so...it might be applying those effects.'

The races went on. The next race was the third and final of the first heat, which was really the quarterfinals. Psymon was the only one who didn't show, perhaps because he didn't care for this race. In fact, it didn't look like a great deal of other riders honestly cared much about winning, and many of the 5th-, and 6th-place finishers left the venue entirely after the lift brought them up again. Then there were two semifinals, which mixed the top 4 of each of the first heat into two races. The top 3 in those races moved on to the finals. Maru was in the race with Griff, which was interesting.

"Hey, Maru!" Griff called as he passed him early on. "I'll save a spot on the podium for ya!"

Maru chuckled, smirking, and called back, "Why, thanks—get me first, if you can!" Griff laughed.

They raced in harmless competition, for fun, like some other pairs Maru observed through similar taunt exchanges. Others rode as bitter rivals, from some of those exchanges. Maru decided to help Griff a little if he could. Getting to that turn he cut past with the log, he called up to Griff, "You see that log?" and pointed.

Griff glanced back to his finger, then at the log, and bopped his head. "Of course! Thanks, Maru!" he called, veering towards it.

Later down the track, he repaid the favor. After the foggy section of the course, there was a turn before a series of short jumps. They were close together again on a rail at the end of a shortcut through the bark remains of one of the gigantic evergreens around that portion of the track, so Griff called up to Maru, "Maru! Hang a right through the trees, then keep straight in that little ditch! There's another log shortcut!"

Maru landed from the rail and nodded, shifting through the stand of trees on the right and then cutting across the track diagonally, avoiding a straggler giant evergreen ('How the heck can they grow this _huge_ up here?! These aren't redwoods, are they??') and getting into, as Griff described, a little ditch. The snow was soft and a little slower, but he boosted on. To his surprise, he hit a log—which _curved around_, bark and all,before spitting him back out to the track, skipping two hairpins. "...I'll ignore how that could have been made and just thank you!" he called over his shoulder to Griff, who landed behind him, after blinking in confusion at the log.

"You're welcome! And you think that's odd? I hear there's a whole TRACK like that somewhere!" Griff called back.

They made the finish line, Griff edging ahead while Maru hit the final jump to try out his Über, Physical Assault, again. (He succeeded, deciding not to hold the board orbit and instead giving it a circuit and a half before finishing the trick. Thus, it was about 3.6 seconds long without holding.) The crowd at the bottom of the course there went wild for it.

They took the lift together. "I still can't believe you figured out Übers on your own, man," Griff enthused, looking at him on the seat.

Maru blushed a little. "It wasn't that hard, really," he tried to humble himself. "Since I knew how easy it was to get out of your bindings, I figured I could do it in the air and make a trick with it."

"How do you spin it around you like that?" Griff asked. "There's a trick kinda like that called the SSXorcist, which is just a big and slow kickflip that keeps spinning when the rider holds it before it returns to them, but that was NOTHING like that! That's just making it look like you're making it go out and in because you just kick it enough that the air slows it down...or something..." He frowned. "I don't quite get that trick, myself, but I can do it. But I know that Physical Assault was WAY different!"

"Telekinesis," explained Maru in one word, smirking.

"Telephonesis?" Griff tried to repeat.

"Tel-e-kin-e-sis," Maru slowed down. "It's the psychic ability to move objects without touching them—meaning I move things with my mind. As you've seen, I'm a psychic—and a pretty good one, if I do say so myself," he added, smirking and puffing his chest a bit, crossing his arms over it.

"Don't start getting a big head," Navi muttered up to him.

"Yeah, man, you're really cool!" Griff agreed, nodding. "That trick beats mine, though...but then, well, you gotta have the energy to keep your leg moving right..." When Maru looked inquisitively at him, he explained, "It's Sugar Rush, basically a really fancy Impossible. It's vertical and kinda slow, but you gotta keep at it and be careful, or the board'll knock into your other leg or your body and the trick's dead."

"Mmm," Maru nodded. He looked off, thinking. "Some of those tricks you do look dangerous if someone comes near you in the air," he commented.

Griff laughed. "Yeah, a spinning board can be a really potent weapon, man," he nodded. "I bet you're thinking of stuff like Footloose, Karolicker, Froghop, or Zoe's signature, Pommel Me."

"Hmmm..." Maru couldn't help but think.

"Hey...what's with that face?" Griff asked in playful caution, raising an eyebrow.

"Nothing," Maru lied, shaking his head. "We're almost at the top. We'll be in the finals..."

"As will Mac," Griff frowned. "He's supposed to be the master of Peak 1, or so he says. He blabs about it all the time. It's true, he's a tough cookie to beat, but...man, he's annoying," he described.

Maru didn't disagree. Mac WAS shaping up to be one of the most overconfident people he'd ever met. And Griff was right—he was in the finals. He wasn't angry anymore, it seemed—just cocky. "Wait'll I make you two weirdos eat my snow, yo!" he taunted at the starting gate.

Griff scoffed. "Yeah, love to see you try, man!" he said back. Then he turned to Maru and spoke in a hushed voice. "Dude, let's whup his butt hard, man!"

"Agreed," Maru nodded. They looked forwards again as the final kicked off, the six riders bursting out of the gates.

The race went well for a bit. He, Griff, and Mac were close together, and they all went for as efficient a path as possible. Maru was more confident by this time, and knew he could probably go faster than normal with his telekinetic boost to his adrenaline boosting (which he'd figured out last race), but he wanted to keep an eye on the rivalry (and besides, he didn't want to hurt Griff's feelings by stealing his gold), so he kept back with them. This was, well, until they hit the foggy section. All three jumped off and pulled a daring Übering flip-spin, and all three landed to turn hard right at a log that would boost them to a shortcut. But when Griff, temporarily first, landed, he yelped and almost bailed on the snow as SkiFreeks bolted from behind the trees to sandwich him.

"WHAT the--?!" Mac yelled before landing and socking one. "YO! NOT COOL!!"

Maru swore and landed, turned, and summoned the Keyblade to whip it out briefly at another attacker. He looked ahead at the two. 'They're going to get attacked, too...!' He growled and decided he wasn't going to play any more games. 'I have to pull ahead of them and make sure they'll be safe--!!'

And then the music turned to Overseer's rock-out tune, "Screw Up". A police siren blared while a slap bass strummed a funky riff...then the drums came in to complete the energy-pumper.

His Keyblade pulsed in time to the music, and Maru felt filled with energy. It seemed that the scene was set right thanks to the accompaniment of the radio, and his Keyblade was helping him accomplish his goal. 'The music...'

"They must be in the same key," joked Navi, noticing what was going on. (What made the joke worse was the fact that it might just have been—his Keyblade was still Another Key, the guitar-like form from Hawaii.)

Ignoring the pun, Maru used the power boost from the Keyblade to push himself forwards, ahead of them, after the rail into the log shortcut. (There was a stretch of ice between the log and the two rails after it.) "I'll clear the way!" he told Griff when he passed him. Griff started when he saw his eyes—which were glowing ice blue.

When Maru got off the rail, he saw another group of SkiFreeks hiding amidst the stand of trees and behind the straggler giant evergreen from last race. He slowed his "super-boost" and worked on handling them. He had to slow down to a halt to attract them and take care of all of them. This put him at a serious fighting disadvantage—getting hit would knock him down and make him waste time, and he couldn't get too far behind Griff and Mac. Thankfully, he felt a chance in the Keyblade and used it. When his back was going to be attacked, he quickly threw the Keyblade in a single, quick, spinning orbit around him, knocking them all down. Something was enhancing his hits, making that chance or three normal on-board hits eliminate them. He often had to switch hands when shifting between attacking front and attacking behind.

Griff and Mac seared by him when he was 4/6 through. "Thanks! See ya!" Mac called back as he went by.

"You're welcome," Maru grumbled as he smacked the last two with the chance before jumping a bit to get himself back going. 'I can't just wait until they're through—I have to defeat them before others come and get ambushed!' he knew as he dashed through the shortcut.

The next spot he found was a fair ways ahead. Behind a turn, a crowd of more of them waited for the boarders. He was able to race ahead of them and start distracting them in time. This time, he rode slowly in a circle to trigger the chance repeatedly (wondering why he can't just use it indefinitely anyway, why the Keyblade was so uptight about its chance conditions). He was a bit behind them again when he was done. He boosted ahead again, listening to the repeated vocal sample of the song. _Got mad skills I will get wild...I got mad skills I will get wild...I got mad skills I will get wild...I will get wild-will get wild..._

He had to handle them two at a time when a series of considerable hops met his eyes. One dashed in from the each side, jumping the fence, when he came to a jump, and he had a feeling he'd have to get them quickly or he'd be in trouble getting back up to speed with the slopes, so he fired off an Ember (he found Ember and Fire magic stunned them a moment) and, using a chance to reorient himself, boosted straight through them with a riding slash, defeating them. "Maru is in first place!" the announcer announced when he came in—it was near the finish, and there were stands filled with fans on either side. When the Heartless came in, she went, "Er, sorry, that thing is!"

"HYAH!!"

"...Or was...(The...?)"

This time, he was able to deal with them without losing his lead. "Just need to make sure I'm first when the next group comes...!" He found that the next place for them was full up...and pretty soon after the one he just was at. After that part, there was a bridge, then an ice tunnel, then a final jump before the finish line. The bridge was wide enough for a car, or for about four Heartless at a time, as he discovered. They came up from below the bridge and he had to utilize his flip-spin skills to get a few in midair, and he did so with rotating speed he was surprised he landed safely from. Two SkiFreeks came at him, but he was able to knock them back off the bridge. Behind him, the crowd roared, and the announcer woman called out, "And Maru pulls a Fuji!!" (pronouncing it "few-gee") As well, he noticed from the corner of his eye before jumping a SkiFreek camped out on a big rail connected to the bridge and an earlier shortcut. There was a river below the bridge. Getting knocked down from there would be very dangerous...He launched his Keyblade mid-rotation and nailed it, the weapon reappearing in his hand when he landed. From there, he had to boost through and slash the middle two before braking and waiting for his chance before going on. There were four lines of four SkiFreeks on the bridge proper.

He was a bit behind after he was done (thanks to them taking the aforementioned shortcut that led them over the bridge and to a half-tunnel on the other side of the river and thus avoiding the thing entirely), so he had to dash through the tunnel to catch up and pull ahead. "DUDE, WHAT THE HECK YOU USIN', A JETPACK?!" Mac called incredulously when he passed him down the slope around the jump. (He and Griff were neck and neck, boosting as fast as they could.)

"No, they are!!" Maru replied as he found a mess of ten SkiFreeks appearing right in front of the goal. He slowed down and dealt with them all, getting their attention in time to clear a path for Griff and Mac.

They finished at the same time from what Maru could tell.

Now, since they were safe, Maru felt his energy wane a little. 'I don't think I can use that enhanced boost now,' he thought as he fought one more round of SkiFreeks on a snowboard. 'Why couldn't these guys come one at a time while we're riding like before? That would make life so much easier...then everyone could handle them with a good cross or backhand...'

He managed to beat them all in time to get fifth place. He groaned at his placing, but breathed a sigh of relief that the other riders were able to get through safely. He groaned and held his head after crossing the finish line. 'Ugh...The Keyblade helped me out here, but I think I still need some Full Heal...if it's not frozen by now...'

"Yo, what the _heck?_" Mac asked Maru, walking over. He had gotten off his board a bit after crossing the finish line. He spread his arms in a "WTF, man?" gesture as he approached. "You takin' somethin' to do that Superman stuff, or what?" He put his free hand in his coat pocket.

Maru shook his head, dismissing the Keyblade. "It's a long story," he answered. "But I assure you, I'm clean."

Mac didn't look convinced, but said, "Well, you still lost, so it doesn't matter, I guess." He shrugged, hand coming out of his pocket—the light glinting off of something, but Maru dismissed it as the snow—turned, and walked off.

"Maru, thanks for dealing with those guys for us," Griff said, walking over as Mac left. He looked relieved. "I thought those things would ruin the whole race, man! And you got them all, too, since nobody else saw those things except at the end, there." He smirked impressedly, crossing his arms. "You are WAY cool, man." He glanced down at Maru's board. "By the way, nice boa—huh?" He bent down and picked something up. "Hey, what's this?" he muttered. It appeared to be a light blue gemstone. "Huh...This was on top of your board...I bet Mac dropped it," he theorized.

"You think he did it on purpose?" Maru asked. "I saw a glint when he shrugged before..."

"Well, regardless, I think he's got enough bling that he can go without this thing, whatever it is," Griff chuckled, holding the gemstone out. "Hey, you deserve it more than I do, man. You might be able to put a use to it better than I could."

"Heh...Thank you." Maru took it and pocketed it.

*****RECIEVED Blizzard Gem*****

A moment later, everyone in the race was standing attentively in the finish line circle, waiting. Then, at last, the announcer lady said, "Ladies and gentlemen, the judges are finished reviewing the photo finish between Griff and Mac...and the winner, by a snowboard nose, is Griff Simmons!!"

The crowd roared and Griff gasped, amazed. Maru smirked, nodding and crossing his arms. Griff jumped up and down exuberantly. "WOO-HOO!! YEAH!! I _AM _THE _MAN!!_" he cheered. He looked at Maru and grinned. "Thanks for helping out there, man," he said. "Dunno if I coulda done it without you."

Maru blushed a little before going, "Well...I'm sure you could have, with practice if anything." 'I shouldn't tell him that he probably COULD have done it without my help, since the Keyblade attracts Heartless...'

Later, on the podium, Griff did a little victory dance as the announcer declared, "Griff Simmons will receive a gold medal in today's event!"

He stopped and stood innocently, asking someone up in the stands (voice amplified because they liked to hear the winners' victory words, Maru was told beforehand), hands clasped up, "Does this mean I get to stay up tonight??" He nodded hopefully, smiling, paused, and shook his head with his face falling before he sagged a bit, sighing in disappointment. (Apparently, his parents in the stands had shook their heads.)

After the medal ceremony, Griff knelt on a dry part behind the stage and waxed up his board. Maru and the others came over. "Good job, Griff!" Figment congratulated. "I knew you could do it!"

"Heh, thanks, man!" Griff said, and they pounded it.

"Hey, Griff!"

Griff turned and looked up as Mac boarded over from the snow that went onto the stage back. He braked and looked down at him with a competitive grin. "How 'bout a little race showdown in the backcountry?" he challenged, thumbing behind him. He twitched his eyebrows.

Griff raised one of his. "Huh?" Something occurred to him. "Wait..." He looked over at Maru and company and cupped his mouth, whispering, "This is my chance to REALLY beat him! A photo finish is one thing, but a REAL victory is something else, man!" He turned again and stood, grinning mischievously. "Heh, you're on, man!" he said. He smirked and put his fists on his hips. "You could call this a battle to see who's the REAL master of Peak 1!!" he added a little swaggeringly.

"Hah! Really? You?" Mac asked, poking his chest.

"Yeah, me," Griff defended matter-of-factly, nodding curtly. "After I own Psymon, I'm going to show him that this ain't no bunny hill! And if I can master Peak 1, think how much better I'll be up on the other peaks!"

"Again, HAH!" Mac barked, crossing his arms. He thumbed himself. "I'M the master of Peak 1, so you'll have to show me up—which ain't never gonna happen, 'cuz even if you think you've done it, I'll NAIL your best and better!"

"Really, huh? Well, we'll see about that!" Griff smirked.

"Happiness, on the double! I'll be waiting!" Mac said before boarding away down the slope, around the hill, and out of sight.

"I'm swimming in arrogance," Figment grumbled when they were done, crossing his arms and looking nonplussed. He raised an eyeridge. "The feeling I get from Maru's bad enough, and I know this is all friendly competition, but still, yeesh..."

"Well, you kinda can't help it up here," Griff shrugged, getting back to his waxing. "Everyone's a little conceited up here, even people like Kaori, sometimes. Well...as far as I can tell from her, at least..."

"Speaking of, what do you think happened to her?" Maru asked.

"I dunno," Griff shrugged. "She's usually here...maybe it's that time of month and she was caught at a bad time?"

Figment couldn't help but snigger at "that time of month". "That never gets tired," he murmured. Maru rolled his eyes.

"You guys mind if I do this on my own?" Griff asked, glancing up. "It's a pride thing. Besides, it's just him and me."

"What if the Heartless come?" Elliott asked, tilting his head.

"If the Heartless come, we'll just go around 'em," Griff shrugged. "There's only the two of us."

"...Alright," Maru reluctantly agreed. 'I hope he's right...I don't want to handle his parents if he gets turned into a Heartless...'

"If you're that worried, we'll exchange M-COMM numbers," Griff said simply, bringing out his M-COMM.

"Alright," Maru nodded, getting his out.

They exchanged numbers and Griff got back to waxing. "Sit at the bottom of the track and wait for us there, alright?" he asked. "It's where you guys came in."

Maru and the others nodded. "Right," he said. "We'll hike up there."

"If you want," Griff shrugged. "I was thinking of riding the Osprey with us up there and going down before we do, but then again, I dunno if Mac would stand you two being there, no offense," he pointed at the dragons.

"I can barely stand them sometimes, myself," Maru commented wryly, looking at Figment.

"HEY!" Figment shouted before hopping up and smacking Maru's blocking arm. "Just because it's true doesn't mean you should say it out loud like that!"

Maru shook his head and chuckled.

- - -

Later on, Maru, Figment, and Elliott sat at the bottom of the backcountry run, where they had come in. It was a relatively long and hard hike up the trail, but they were able to do it alright. They appreciated the rest at the end, though. Thankfully, they had no Heartless to fight on the way or at their destination.

They didn't have long to wait, though, since the Osprey—the plane they'd seen at the transport station by the lodge—flew over them, presumably carrying Griff and Mac, right after they sat. In minutes, the dragons erupted in cheers when they saw a blue figure emerge from the final jump first, a black-and-white one coming after. Griff braked before them and pumped his arm, hissing, "Yesss!!"

Mac, now in goggles and a red beanie, braked next to him a moment later, groaning, "Awww, come on...Dangit." He snapped his fingers (as well as anyone in gloves could) and crossed his arms, looking at Griff. "You think you did well enough? Try my run down all of Peak 1, from the backcountry, through Snow Jam, and down to the end of Metro City Breakdown, and THEN we'll see who's top dog, dawg," he challenged.

"You're on!" Griff smirked. "I'm the one who beat the first Metro City race, remember?"

"Psh, yeah, that was just luck," Mac dismissed, waving an arm and smirking back.

"You just don't wanna admit that you lost to a kid," jeered Griff like the child he was.

"Yeah, well, that's not all I don't wanna admit," Mac said, face suddenly going serious as he got out of his board.

"Hm?" Griff raised an eyebrow. He smiled slyly and bent to get out of his board, too, beginning, "What, like that you also like to wear--"

_"Doonn't,"_ Maru stopped him firmly, eying him like a parent. Griff looked at him, and Maru jerked his head to Mac, and Griff blushed, eyebrows shooting up as he realized he was about to do something really tasteless. He finished getting out of his board and pushed it over to Maru, who held it for him.

Mac picked up his board and stuck it up in the snow. He sighed, shook his head, then slowly turned his head to Griff. His eyes were narrowed, and they only got one glimpse of this before he lunged and grabbed Griff by the lapels. _**"Where's Kaori??" **_he demanded with gritted teeth.

*-*-*

*Robin Hood and Little John are walking through Sherwood Forest (not picking up the field mice and bopping them on the head, because they wouldn't've liked that, and besides, they aren't nearly that cruel). Suddenly, they hear a sound.*

Little John: *lifts an ear* Hey, is that...

Robin Hood: *lifts one, more noticeably* ...Bells?

*They trot in the direction of the sound and find a clearing. Some of the residents of Nottingham are in audience to a group of white-clad, red double-sash-wearing dancers with bells on their shins, waving hankies as they caper up and down in a set of six. In front of them stand a fiddler, a concertina player, and a flutist, the flutist being a very familiar tan, maskless ferret, who was dressed in a green vest instead.*

Robin Hood: *smiles, ears perking up* Oh, Morris dancers! *moves to a spot in the audience nearby the musicians*

Little John: *follows, frowning, ears drooping* Oh, Morris dancers...

Dancers: *singing* _EV-ry morn-ING, drink a little cof-fee, EV-ry morn-ING, drink a little tea..._

Robin Hood: *Turns sharply to Little John, frowning disapprovingly* Come, now, it's not that bad. A little odd, sure, but it's entertaining, isn't it?

Little John: *rolls eyes, crossing arms* Yeah...if you're deaf.

Dancers: ..._drink a little TEAAAAA!!_ *stop, holding a foot out and their hankies up while the musicians end the song with a simple flourish, the flutist trilling. They stop, and the leader (front left when facing the musicians) says, "Walk around," before they begin milling about in a circle to depart. The crowd applauds.*

Robin Hood: At least respect this as a part of our culture! Who knows? Maybe it'll simply be some footnote on the pages of history in the country of its birth this time next couple of centuries!

Flutist: *looks wryly at them, speaking in an American accent* You don't know the half of it.

Robin Hood & Little John: *look at him confusedly while he sets his flute down to pick up a longish stick for the next dance*

*-*-*

Did that omake to kinda show what Morris was for those not in the know. I still recommend a look online, though. Anyway, yeah, cliffhanger, I'm evil. MWA-HAH-HAH-HAAAH!!


	29. 17: A Ruthless Based Enemy

Though his sudden words and actions seemed to be, Mac himself didn't seem to be accusing, which caused Maru to shoot to a stand—then stop halfway, curious. He stopped the others from going to them.

Griff yelped and pushed himself away. "What the HELL, man?!" he demanded back. He then clasped his hands over his mouth in the classic kid "oh, snap, I just made a big boo-boo" look. "Don't tell Mom I said that," he asked in a small voice.

Mac made a groanish sigh, like some people do sometimes, and flopped his arms to his sides. He looked seriously at Griff. "You were the last guy I know who I saw with Kaori before I saw what happened to her," he said a little more calmly. He looked away, at the trees to his right. "Then I saw what happened outside Rob & Bob's...an' I had the craziest thought..." He looked at Griff again. "That you might know where she is."

Griff raised an eyebrow, utterly confused. "Huh? You...Uuuuhhh..._Hhuh?_" he cocked his head at the end.

Mac sighed again, shaking his head. "Alright, I'll take it from the top," he exasperated. He crossed his arms and slouched, then began."I went on the gondola to the village with her—she was headin' down to get some stuff at her place. Then after walking her off, I turned to get back on before it left without me up to Snow Jam, where I was thinkin' of gettin' a quick run or two in before I stomped the competition..."

***-***

_Mac was walking up the steps of the village transport station, watching Kaori over his shoulder with a distant smile. _"So, I was just keepin' an eye on her while she was walkin' off..."_ He stopped, raising an eyebrow when Kaori abruptly stopped, looking around._ "...when she stops and looks around all a sudden, and I'm all like, 'What the funk?' and stop, too..."

_Mac started back down to get a better view; she was partially behind a building from his former position. She was now looking down an alleyway. _"I moved for a bettah view, and she was lookin' down some alley, which ain't never good...Then she did the thing you know you're NOT supposed to do...musta spaced, I guess..."_ He saw her raise her eyebrows and walk in, and smacked his forehead, muttering, "Kaori..." before crouching a little and jogging over. He stopped at the beginning of the alleyway and peeked around the side of the building, crouching more. _"...So I moved all spy-like and followed her to see what the heck made her go in there..."_ His eyebrows shot up. _"My brows went SKY-HIGH, y'know?"

"There was this guy in, like, a ninja or something with a scarf—you couldn't see any organic part showing on 'im."_ At the end of the alleyway was a tall man, whom Kaori was walking towards with an unhappy expression. He had a pair of reflective goggles on, a hockey-like mask over his nose and mouth area, headphone-like objects at his ears, a jagged-ended scarf dyed a dirty yellow around his neck, and a dark blue mask around the rest of his head. Over just about the rest of his body was a slate-colored (leaning more towards the blue side a smidgen) jacket, fastened shut on the front and bearing black stripes on the tops of the shoulders, and pair of pants, both almost skintight, they were so close to his body. Something like utility belts, black with white pouches, were slung around his waist, left leg, and right shoulder, the pouches on the lower ones bunched to the left with considerable empty space on the rest and on the top with the belt around his arm. His boots, black, were not partially hidden, like other riders seen so far; the pants went into the tops. It also appeared he had some black padding on his elbows. He really did resemble a ninja of some sort. His arms were held behind his back calmly._

"Kaori was sayin' somethin' in Japanese, and she sounded pretty pissed, for he—I mean...(Crap, forgot I'm not s'posed to swear around him)...Uh, Griff, just pretend I didn't say that, will ya?" ("Say what?") "Exactly."_ In translation, Kaori crossed her arms and said dangerously, "Run that by me again."_

_ The man nodded and repeated in very good Japanese, "Your fellow riders, and everyone in this competition, competing or not, sicken me to my very core." His voice was deep and calm, yet tinged with menace; the mask must also have had a voice changer, since it was somewhat distorted—still clear, however._

_ Kaori clenched her fists, but nothing more. "Why?"_

_"Because, Miss Nishidake, it's all a big show made of, by, and for people who carelessly think nothing of others and care only if their side wins," the man replied. _"They were having this conversation and I didn't understand NONE-a it."_ "You and I share the same opinion—that this sport should be enjoyed as fun, not as a money-run affair like it is."_

_ Kaori stamped a foot. "You're wrong!" she shouted. "While I think that people should enjoy snowboarding for fun, I don't think that the competition is as bad as you make it sound, not at all!" She spread her arms out. "We come together for a few weeks every year to compete, people from around America and the world--"_

_"Don't make this sound like it's as prestigious an event as the Olympics, which themselves are _worse_, anyway!!" the man interrupted harshly. He raised his hands up and clasped them in front of him. His gloves were plain and grey. "I'm saddened my fears were proven like this—that I could not find an ally. Oh, well...at least I can carry out the most part of my plan alone." He clapped twice, _pum-pum_._

_"Huh?" Kaori squeaked as the shadows of the alleyway suddenly moved. A mob of SkiFreeks surrounded her. She screamed. "EEEEK! What the--?!" Mac gasped. _"Then he clapped and summoned those skier things I saw you guys fighting at Rob & Bob's from outta nowhere!"

_"Capture her," the man ordered in English, pointing at Kaori while grabbing something from a pouch on his waist belt._

"He ordered 'em to nab her!" _Mac clenched a fist and was about to go on when he hesitated. _"I wanted to help her, but I was still a bit freaked out...And I wondered if it wouldn't be a good idea if that guy saw me. Then I just thought, 'Screw it!' and charged in after her!"_ "KAORIII!" Mac cried as he dashed in. Kaori was being grabbed by the SkiFreeks, covered by them, almost. Her face was all that showed. Behind them, he saw part of the man's visor._

_ Kaori gasped and fought to free an arm to reach out for him. "MAAACC!!" she called desperately._

_"NOOOO!" Mac reached out for her hand..._"We reached out for each other..."_...before a cloud of black smoke erupted and covered the alleyway while she was pulled away from him. He stopped and coughed, clenching his eyes shut and holding his arm up. _"...Then that guy used one of those smoke bomb things and I had to stop and cough up my lungs!"_ The smoke started to clear a moment later, and he stopped and gasped in horror._

_ Before him was an empty alleyway. _"When it started to clear up, I looked and couldn't believe it. I was too late. They were gone, yo..."

**- * -**

"..._Poof_," Mac ended, flicking his fingers up to gesticulate. He looked serious the whole time, but now he looked a bit pleading. "Look, I know it sounds pretty whack, but--"

"We believe you," Griff interrupted, nodding. He looked serious, too. "I do, at least."

Mac smiled a little in relief. "Thanks, Griff," he said softly. He adopted his ornery frown again and looked at Maru and the dragons. "What about you freak shows?"

Maru anger-veined at that. "Take back that 'freak shows' and we will," he bargined through gritted teeth.

Mac scoffed. "Well, I said it, an' I can't turn back time—otherwise I wouldn't be here askin' you guys for help," he spat, looking away and mumbling that last part.

Griff raised his eyebrows. "You're asking US? For HELP??" he asked, stepping forwards a bit, hand to chest. He let out a wry chuckle. "Heh, you must really like her, huh?"

Mac growled and raised his arm threateningly at Griff, who stepped back and held his arms up defensively. "YO! Zip that lip, shrimp!!" he commanded. He groaned and shook his head, lowering his arm. He gesticulated and said a bit calmer, "Look, sorry. I'm just really worried 'bout Kaori. She's my best friend on this circuit. If YOU saw your best friend sucked up by those things and suddenly, BAM!, they're gone, you'd wanna find 'em, too, right?" He banged his hands together to emphasize this as he looked at Maru.

Maru thought back to the stage at Nightsky City, to Ash's outstretched hand, and shivered. "I'm still trying," he replied in an undertone.

"You're the only guys who might be able to actually DO something, let alone believe me," Mac went on, looking at all of them. "Imma help as much as I can, but I can't do it alone."

"We'll help ya," Griff said happily, smiling. "I mean, sure, you're a jerk to me, but A) You're not as big a jerk as Psymon, and B) I'm not a jerk, either." He counted these off as he spoke. "Just...um...where do we begin if we don't know where she's at?" he asked, frowning helplessly and rubbing the back of his head.

"So you don't know, huh?" Mac asked softly, looking a bit disappointed. He sighed. "Well, we start looking fo' clues, that's what we do."

"Where should we go, first?" Figment asked, stepping forward and crossing his arms. "The lodge? We might get some information there on that guy, who we should really be looking for, if he took Kaori."

"...You're pretty smart for a weird little whatever you are," Mac commented after a moment of thought.

"He has his moments," Maru shrugged. He didn't even look when he blocked Figment's jumping smack.

"Then let's head down there, yo!" Mac declared, grabbing his board. "Time's-a wastin'!"

The party nodded and grabbed their gear. 'Looks like we've finally found this world's true story,' Maru mused. He narrowed his brow seriously. 'And it doesn't sound very good...'

- - -

They rode down to the lodge and got off their boards to start walking around. On the way there, Mac gave them a general description of the man. There were some people outside for the moment, and Griff and Elliott went out to ask some people, while Maru went inside to use the save disc. Mac and Figment went in to ask around inside. After he was finished with the disc, Maru found that there weren't that many people around. The two gabbing girls were still there, this time in the café sipping coffee. The man at the bar was still there, talking with Mac. Figment was in the back, at the gear shop, talking with Seeiah, the black girl from before at the race. 'I should talk to everyone I can,' Maru thought, 'even the ones the others are talking to.' He noticed, as well, his M-COMM was playing a song on his pre-given playlist on repeat, Deepsky's "Ride", which fit the atmosphere of the world very well.

"You two know anything about a man who's dressed kind of like a ninja, mostly in greyish blue with a dark yellow scarf?" Maru asked the girls sitting in the café.

"Huh? Hey, you're that guy from before—thanks! We were scared stiff we'd be attacked!" the blonde in the yellow jacket chirped.

"But anyway," the blonde in the black one said, "we actually have heard about a guy like that. He's been seen prowling around some of the circuit places, like the main building down in the city and the tracks."

"Nobody's been able to get close to him—he always disappears before they manage to get to him," the yellow-wearing blonde shivered. "It's spooky."

"We've also heard rumors he rides around on a black, red-accented snowboard," the black-wearing blonde added. "Since nobody knows who he is, I guess you could call him, 'the Unknown Rider.'"

"Interesting..." Maru muttered. "'The Unknown Rider'..."

"That's all we know, sorry," the yellow-wearing blonde apologized. "Good luck finding him, or whatever."

"Why do you ask? Something happen?" the black-wearing blonde wondered.

Maru sweatdropped. 'Telling them he's kidnapped Kaori wouldn't be a good idea, I can feel it...' He shook his head. "No, just curious."

"Really? Huh," the black-wearing blonde tilted her head.

"Hey, you think he might have something to do with the weird weather we always have?" the yellow-wearing blonde asked her friend in a more hushed voice.

The black-wearing blonde looked back, scoffing. "Nah, what makes you say that?" she asked. Then she thought a moment and added, "Wait, I think I _have_ heard about the government or something making machines to control the weather..."

Maru thanked them before they got to gabbing again. He knew any other attempt afterward would be futile—he'd just stand there, listening to their back-and-forth gossiping on weather machines. He moved on to the gear shop, which was a decent-sized room with lots of hats, goggles, and other accessories, and a few boards, though these were obviously generic, sponsored boards and Maru didn't pay much attention to them. Figment sat at the end of the counter, talking with Seeiah, who had her glasses up on her head to reveal brown eyes. The fit brunette behind the counter, polishing her nails, was free, though Figment may have spoken to her.

"Excuse me, do you know anything about a man..." Maru continued with his question.

The brunette looked up from her nails boredly and shook her head. "Sorry, babe, I got nuttin'," she answered. "That little guy over there talking with Miss Owens there already asked. All I know is that he's been seen riding around sometimes on the courses when nobody's there, and he's just generally known as 'the Unknown Rider'." She smiled, almost smirked, and asked, "In other news, the lodges have recently gotten in some exclusive stuff that make you feel like the cold's not even there! Interested?"

Maru was about to decline when he thought a moment. "...What kind of stuff do you mean?" he asked.

The brunette brought out a laminated sheet of paper and showed it to him. As he looked at some of the items, he started, unintentionally, psychically detecting some things that would actually be worth something—something like the Aquamarine Ring that Figment and Elliott had bought for him. 'My powers must be returning more than I thought,' he wondered. He noticed that the items he detected were ones that he could equip without anyone really noticing—like belts and a couple pieces of jewelry. (Example: How many of you forgot Maru had received a ring before this Bit began?) All of them he detected would heighten his resistance to Blizzard magic—and, consequentially, Ice-type attacks. 'Wait! Figment and Elliott should wear some of these because they're weak to the cold!' he realized.

He saw a blue-and-light blue sweat wristband which would increase Blizzard resistance about 20% and was (again, thanks to his "fashion sense" that he was suddenly developing) relatively cheap. They rarely spent their Munny, and they got a lot of it from all the Heartless they defeated (he resisted asking why Heartless carry money), so he decided to get a couple—one for him to put under his cuff (sleeve, now) and one for Figment, and then a small snowflake earring for Elliott which provided the same effect (minus the very minor boost in normal defense the sweatbands did, but he didn't think Elliott would appreciate the article of clothing; it didn't look like his kind of fashion. It wasn't Maru's, either, but he could hide it). The brunette didn't appear to be fazed by the Munny and brought the items out and gave them to Maru, who put them away and thanked her. 'I'll put mine on now, and give the dragons theirs when we're all together again,' he planned, turning and equipping his under his left sleeve. He felt the effects instantly, the everyday apparel somehow coinciding with his ambient magic from the Keyblade, or maybe his strong psychic aura. Whatever it was, it worked.

He went over to Figment and Seeiah. Figment noticed him nearby and "paused" the conversation after Maru came over. "Sorry to interrupt, but you find anything out yet?" Maru asked.

Figment shrugged. "Seeiah here says she's seen this 'Unknown Rider' guy with her own eyes," he said. "That brunette there wasn't much help, but when I checked out the stuff she mentioned, I got the feeling some of it might actually be useful. I didn't buy anything because I was afraid you might've gotten mad..."

"Looking at what she had, if I hadn't seen the sheet with my own eyes first, I would have," Maru raised an eyebrow. "I'll give you your stuff when we're not separated anymore."

"You got me something?? Oooh! Now I feel like I just got a Christmas present, especially with all this snow around!" Figment chuckled.

Maru half-eyed and raised another eyebrow, then turned to Seeiah. "So, you've seen the Unknown Rider?" he inquired curiously.

Seeiah nodded. "Uh-huh, Ah sho' have seen that guy, sugah, or mah name ain't Seeiah," she answered. "Ah was down by Rob & Bob's sometime aftah the competition started up a few days back, an' 'e was standin' there, outside the place, crossin' 'is arms, and Ah just got the willies somethin' fierce lookin' at 'im. Someone called mah name, an' when Ah looked back, he was gone. You think he's up to somethin', honey, 'cuz Ah sho' do."

Maru nodded and thanked her, then let them get back to talking. He talked to Mac. "Whatup? Dug up all the dirt you can?" the boader asked.

"Not yet," Maru shook his head.

"Aw, man, c'mon, pick up the slack, dawg! Kaori could be dead, for all we know! Talk to me when you're done, aight?" And that was that.

Maru then turned to the barkeep and asked about the Unknown Rider. "Oh, him?" he asked. (Maru then knew who Mac was interrogating him about, instead.) "I've seen some weird stuff, like those guys who were with you, but he's one of the weirdest. I got lost on the way down the backcountry up on Peak 2 once and saw him riding off behind a rock and down a different path, holding some sheets of paper. I swear one of them was a map, 'cuz it had a lotta color on it and even, dark boxes like houses...He scared the heck outta me, though, so I was too afraid to follow."

"Thanks," Maru nodded before turning to go outside.

"Oh, you've got an M-COMM?" the barkeep asked, noticing the bulge in his back pocket. Maru stopped at turned again. "You need a map for Peak 1? We've got 'em for free download here at the lodge."

Maru raised his eyebrows before nodding. "That would be helpful, thank you," he said. "What do I do?"

"Just open up yer M-COMM, and..." Within the minute, Maru had downloaded the map for Peak 1. He thanked the barkeep and left the building.

*****OBTAINED Peak 1 Map*****

Elliott wasn't talking to anyone—he was really just milling around aimlessly, looking at the scenery. "Oh, hey, Maru," he greeted when the Keyblader approached. "Sorry if I look like I'm slacking off—I'm really not! It's just...Well, I've talked to the kids around here, 'cuz the adults can't understand me, and I don't wanna try cramming back into the lodge and making a scene." He sighed and slapped his belly. "This thing I've got here can really get in the way, I'm sorry...but I don't want it just taken away from me. I'm used to it, and it's not only useful to me in battle, it's useful right now in this cold—kinda like your cloak!" Maru raised an eyebrow. Elliott nodded. "Yeah! You look like you're used to it, you put important stuff in it to keep it safe, it's useful in this weather, it probably gets in the way sometimes, and I doubt you'd like it if someone took it from you."

"...You're right," Maru realized, raising his eyebrows. "Interesting—" '—if slightly disturbing—' "—analogy, Elliott." Elliott nodded, smiling, and went on to admiring the mountain.

"'Cuz I'm a kid, nobody here is taking me all that seriously when I ask about a guy in a ninja suit," Griff grumbled when Maru talked to him. (He, too, was idle, sitting on the edge of the lodge's porch and kicking his legs while playing an Tetris clone on his M-COMM.) "Maybe you could handle 'em better...though maybe you'll end up intimidating the little kids out here having a snowball fight, no offense."

"None taken."

Griff frowned, crossing his arms. "Those...what did you guys call 'em? SkiFreeks?...They've come up, like, three or four times, now, haven't they? I mean the really big times they've come, not this stuff when it's only us like in the city. Think about it, man; technically first it was the ones Mac saw; then at Rob & Bob's; and then out at Snow Jam in the final run. I mean, I'm pretty sure he's using them to attack, but who, what and why?"

Maru left him to think (and play his game) and went to the other people standing out there. He saw Brodi, another person he recognized from the race, meditating in the classic position under a stand of trees out from the lodge. "Sorry to disturb your meditations, but do you know anything a man in grey-blue known as the Unknown Rider?" Maru asked quietly.

Brodi opened his eyes and looked up at him. "Hm? The Unknown Rider? I haven't seen him, man, but I've heard some stuff about him I'd rather not say. But I can't help but feel like he's the one causing the bad vibes I've been feeling coming from the mountain...she's unhappy about something, and that's saying something for a piece of Mother Earth as relatively unharmed by humans as her."

Maru raised an eyebrow. 'I wonder...' "Do you...know where I might find the heart of the mountain...?" 'If he's not just spouting crud...'

Brodi shook his head. "That's something you have to find on your own, man, sorry," he replied. "Not that I don't trust you...though you DO give off some pretty different vibes...like there's an animal in you ready to get out at any second. That's just my description, though."

Maru raised his eyebrow higher. 'He's good, whether it's at observation or at the real thing...' He thanked him and went on.

"Huh? Unknown Rider?" went a woman in a parka standing by the lodge when asked. "That kid asked me about him, but I guess it's serious, after all...Sorry, never heard of him."

"That kid asked the same thing—What is this, a game?" laughed a man in a big, poofy jacket standing a bit further away from the woman. "Sorry, but we're just tourists having a little break time on the famed BIG Mountain. If you want my opinion, it's one of those weird mountain town urban myths, like an ice monster or something."

Maru found three small children having a snowball fight and gulped. 'I hope I'm not too intimidating, after all, because we need some leads...though what that barkeep said was good, it might not mean anything.' He approached a little boy in a blue jacket with a tall beanie. "Um, excuse me..." he began, crouching down on one knee to him.

The boy turned, looked at him, gasped, and stepped back. Maru sweatdropped and rose. "Sorry," he said, blushing, and moved quickly away. 'Strike one...'

He tried the largest child, in a green coat. The result was the same. Hoping he wasn't going to get in trouble with their parents, Maru tried the girl in the red parka. "Um...excuse me..." Maru began again, crouching.

The girl turned and gasped at him, and Maru's heart sank when she stepped back, too. Before he rose again, though, she marveled, "WOW, mister, that musta taken a lotta hair gel!!"

He blinked. "I'm not scary?" he asked.

The girl nodded. "You're really scary, but I'm just really brave," she told him. "My big and little brothers over there are sissies."

"Ah..." Maru breathed a sigh of relief in his head before going on. "Sorry to disturb your play, but could you tell me anything about a man dressed up like a ninja with a yellow scarf? He's sometimes called the Unknown Rider."

"Ummmm..." The girl thought for a moment. "...All I can think of is what I told that fat dwaggie," she said. "I said, I think he's supposed to be up on...ah...the big mountain with all the storms that Mom and Dad won't take us to because they're afraid we'll get struck by lightning." She giggled. "But there are so many trees, they'll get hit before us! My family's so silly! Besides, I'm more worried about the thinner atmosphere up on the top of Peak 3, where we could run out of breath faster, freeze easier, and get sunburned."

Maru blinked at this impressive knowledge. "How old are you?" he asked.

"8."

"...You're a very smart girl."

"I just pay attention in school."

Maru was able to subdue a bout of laughter to a chuckle. He thanked her and stood to go back. He noticed the two boys looking at him. 'Hmmm...'

He tried the one in blue again. He gulped as he approached, but said, "If my sister could talk to you, I can, too! You don't scare me!" defiantly. "Wh-What is it...?" Maru asked. "Oh, like that big dwaggie! I don't know much about it. I heard that he's been going all over the tracks the snowboarders are going down for the circus...I mean...carrot?"

"Circuit?"

"Yeah! Thanks! Um...that's all I know, I'm sorry. Wanna join our snowball fight?"

"Thanks, but I'm a little busy. Besides...I'm honestly afraid I might hurt you without meaning to..."

Maru asked the second brother again. He was nervous, too, but he gulped and reasoned, "I'm the big brother! Why am I afraid of you? What do you want?" He sounded a bit like a bully, now. Maru asked. "Psh, like that stupid fatso...I didn't tell him nothin'. I don't like dragons."

"Could you tell me, instead?" Maru asked (trying not to frown at the unintentional racism).

"Why?"

"Someone is in danger, and you might be able to help out by telling me what you know."

"Like a movie? You're...*ulp*...not gonna put me in one of those rooms with the bright lamps, are you?"

Maru sighed, suppressing his groan. "No, I'm just asking you here and now, don't worry."

"Oh. Well...I remember when we were at the Slopestyle thing yesterday, which that Griff kid who asked us the same thing won. We thought he was just playing with us and told him he had shuriken with him and stuff. Anyway, while I was there, I had to go use the bathroom. I got lost, and somehow ended up under the stands. I saw him come in suddenly and hid...I hope he didn't see me. He looked out through the holes in the seats and said, 'Not yet,' before going off into the shadows and just disappearing. So, he was snooping around that place...I'd tell someone, but who'd believe a kid?" he finished.

"I would," Maru said. "In this case, at least. Thank you very much."

"Yeah! Now go away, Purplylocks, you're ruining our snowball fight," the kid ordered, crossing his arms.

Maru managed to quell his reaction to the name and left. "That should be everyone in the area," he muttered to himself, looking around. 'I should talk to Mac again.' He returned to him and said he'd gathered all the information he could.

"Good, let's huddle and go over what we got," Mac replied.

The group of five gathered down the path that went past the lodge and transport station. They stood in a circle under a rock overhang that poured powdery snow like a little waterfall off of it gently. "...And I found out that Kaori hasn't been seen again since she went onto the gondola down to the village, and that she hadn't been acting weird beforehand," Mac finished. He looked at Maru. "Well? You're last. What's your dirt?"

"Some of it is old news to some of you, but..." Maru recounted all he had found out. They looked at him in surprise when he was done.

"You were thorough," Figment commented, impressed.

"So that's why that kid didn't want to talk to me..." Elliott murmured, drooping depressedly. Figment patted his leg comfortingly.

"So, sounds like we've only got rumors, huh," Mac summarized, crossing his arms and slouching on his other leg. "From the sounds of it, though, the best place to start looking is Peak 2." He looked at Griff. "You're gonna have to ask for a better pass, though," he told him. "The max amount of people a competitor can take with 'em on a single pass is four, and while I've got all three peaks open to me, you've only got Peak 1. If you beat my best down the peak, they'd notice and promote you, but...we kinda don't have time for that."

Griff sighed. "Yeah, I was afraid of that," he groaned. "Those pencil-pushers are really whack sometime, man."

"So, what do we do?" Maru asked.

Then, the three riders heard the music end and DJ Atomika come back in, interrupting them. "You're listening to Radio BIG," he announced. Another song was rapidly building up to its start in the background, so he made this quick. "Just a few words of advice for you SSX riders: Your board won't wax itself, your riding boots _do _need a day off once in a while...and your M-COMM can't check your messages for you. Here's some more tunes for ya, here on EA Radio BIG." And he was out while a rock song came in.

Mac raised his eyebrows. "Woah, hey, that guy's nagging actually comes in handy once in a while," he realized. He reached for his M-COMM. "I haven't checked mine in ages...hang a sec, will ya?"

He had just brought it out and flicked it open when he jumped and yelped in surprise, dropping the device onto the snow. Maru and the others turned and saw what he'd seen—a man's head and shoulders peeking out from the top of the rock shelf. "Don't mind if I do," he said.

It was the Unknown Rider.

Mac growled and clenched his fists before pointing. "YOU! Where'd you take Kaori, you son of a--" he started to accuse.

"_Ah-ah-aaahh_," the Unknown Rider cut him off, waggling a finger. "There are virgin ears among us."

"You know, those 'virgin ears' really aren't virgins anymore come middle school," Griff grumbled despite the situation. He and the others had their weapons up, ready for battle.

The Unknown Rider flipped down onto the ground skillfully. He held his board in his other hand. He turned and looked at Mac. "Mackenzie Fraser," he addressed.

Mac pushed past Maru and the others and got right up in the Unknown Rider's face. "NOBODY calls me that name unless I say so!" he shouted, gritting his teeth. "Now cut the crap and tell me what you did with Kaori!"

"How about YOU tell me what you were doing there when she refused to comply in the first place?!" the Unknown Rider said back with a good deal of anger, pushing Mac down on his back with ease.

"WOAH!--nf!" Mac went. He growled and was up in a flash. "Yo, that's nun-ya!!" he defended, cutting his hand through the air.

"I was there, I think it IS sum-ma," the Unknown Rider replied, chuckling a bit. "But I can't hide it from you, can I? Not like you'll be able to do anything about it." He shrugged as if it were pointless and leaned on his board after digging it in the snow. It didn't appear to bend with as much suppleness as normal boards did.

"What do you mean?" Maru asked, eyes narrowed. He lifted the Keyblade. "You DO know that this thing makes me the Heartless' worst enemy, right?"

"So? Does this concern you?" the Unknown Rider asked, looking as if he'd raise an eyebrow at Maru. "No. Although...maybe it does. But it's not like you'll be able to do anything, either—I'm out of your reach, no matter where you go." He looked at Mac again. "And you won't be able to do anything because I have your _beloved _Kaori's life in my hands," he answered Maru's question to him.

Mac growled and clenched his fists harder...then stomped his foot. "Dammit! I shoulda known!" he shouted. He leered at the Unknown Rider. "You're gonna blackmail me, aren't you?" he asked, a little quieter.

"Damn right I am," the Unknown Rider nodded. He leaned on the board with his back, crossing his arms. He demanded darkly, "Quit the circuit. Quit snowboarding forever, you money-mongering piece of wigger scum."

Mac and Griff gasped in horror at the condition, taking a step back. "But that's not fair!!" Griff protested holding a fist up. "You can't make him quit snowboarding!" He started going towards him.

"No, Griff, this is MY battle," Mac stopped him with his arm, and Griff looked at his face. He looked unhappy, but not at Griff. Mac looked at the Unknown Rider. "And you'll let her go?" he checked.

"Maybe."

Mac cut the air again. "'Maybe' ain't GOOD ENOUGH!!" he roared.

"Then how about this—I'm a fair man, so if I have to give you a definite answer, I'll make it worse than what you wanted...but I'll make your end better," he offered. He unfolded his arms one by one. "You stop riding for the circuit...and I'll make sure she's completely safe. I swear with God as my witness." He folded them again. "Either that, or quit and hope I let her go."

Mac growled more, and looked like he was ready to attack him, but then he took a deep breath and sighed, looking down and lowering his fists. "Alright, I'll quit for the circuit," he agreed quietly. He whipped his head up and stepped forwards to his face again, pointing at him. "But you had BETTER keep your word, you hear me? Otherwise you're gettin' the BIGGEST Mac Smackdown in HISTORY!!" he threatened through gritted teeth.

"And the same to you," the Unknown Rider replied calmly.

Mac sneered at him for a few seconds before turning and stomping back from him. Griff ran to him, worried, but Mac wouldn't respond to him. Griff glowered and turned to the Unknown Rider. "You're the biggest jerk I've ever seen, even bigger than Psymon," he spat menacingly.

"Oh, big whoop, a kid's mad at me," the Unknown Rider said sarcastically. He looked at Maru. "Hanging out with one of the big kids won't do you any good, you know. Try and stop me if you want—You'll never find me or Kaori. And if you do, I assure you death is imminent." He grabbed his board out of the snow and held it between body and elbow while he clapped his hands twice. _Pum-pum._

Instantly, a swarm of SkiFreeks sprang up, and the party (not including Mac) assembled around, in battle stance. "If you don't leave this alone, however, and leave this mountain, you'll find death something you'll yearn for," the Unknown Rider continued. "You and all of those competition-crazed morons that have infested this mountain, taking this sport where it never should have gone...to the media." He sighed and looked skywards, gesticulating with his arm. "Why can't it be like _fishing?_ _Nobody_ cares about _fishing_, and look how pure and free _it's_ stayed..." He sighed and shook his head. "You have my warning," he said, grabbing something from his belt and throwing it down. It was a flash bomb this time, and when they could see again, he was gone and the Heartless were almost upon them.

"Dammit!" Maru held one off, barrel (well, neck) to face, before throwing it away. "Mac, get out of here!" he called over his shoulder.

Mac, kneeling in the snow and holding his M-COMM, looked over his shoulder and nodded, then grabbed his board and started to run off. He stopped by Griff, though, and held out a card to him. "Griff, take it, I don't even need it anymore," he said in a surprisingly gentle voice. "I forwarded that text I got to you, too. Save her." And he was off...not without barreling past a SkiFreek, however, on his way back up to the lodge.

Griff looked at the card. "Mac..." He put the card in a pocket and blocked a SkiFreek. "We will, man, we will!" he vowed determinedly.

Maru looked at him, wondering, as they began fighting.

The battle went on as much as a normal battle ever did, though the new chance Maru had learned was helpful. Overall, it was rather easy, since it was just SkiFreeks again...well, at least until a bunch of other, normal Heartless appeared after they were gone; the Keyblade must have attracted them. They were dealt with, as well.

When it was over, Maru dismissed the Keyblade and turned to Griff, crossing his arms. "Tell me, did you forget your thing with Psymon at all?" he asked.

Griff, who had just gasped from checking the forwarded text on his M-COMM, raised his eyebrows with a definite "oh, I forgot!" look on his face before returning one down and putting his hands on his hips. "Yeah, but what does THAT have to do with this?!" he asked. "We've gotta save Kaori! And stop whatever else that nutjob's planning!!" he declared, gesticulating. He tilted his head and asked, a bit worried, "You with me, man...?"

"That's why I asked," Maru smirked, chuckling.

Griff was a bit confused, then he realized that he'd answered his question a bit differently and grinned. He nodded. "Thanks, Maru," he said. "We can do this together, no sweat!"

Maru smiled a bit, nodding. "And what was that you got?" he asked.

Griff smiled and held up both his M-COMM and the card Mac gave him. "Our ticket to Kaori," he answered confidently.

The text was from Kaori, and read, "Peak 2."

The card was Mac's Peak 2 pass.

*****RECIEVED Mac's Peak 2 Pass*****

*****Griff: LEARNED "Showoff" Limit*****

The party raced off to the transport station. On the way, Maru tossed Figment and Elliott their equipment. "Almost forgot," he said. "I didn't think you'd like one of those wristbands, Elliott, so I got that, instead. I hope you don't mind that, either..."

Elliott grimaced at the earring, but shook his head, smiling. "I don't mind," he said. "I'll just attach it to my armor instead of my ear."

"Thanks, Maru!" Figment said, putting the sweatband on and hiding it under the cuff of his sweater. "I hope I don't feel unequal with only one, though..."

At the transport station, Griff showed Mac's pass, saying, "We need to get to Peak 2, badly."

The big man he showed it to, wearing an orange jacket with white sleeves and a matching hat over his crew cut black hair, raised an eyebrow. "Well, if Mac gave his pass up to someone, I guess it's pretty important," he admitted in a deep voice.

"Thanks, Powder Pete!" Griff nodded, smiling. "C'mon, guys, to the Osprey!" he said, pointing and sounding like he'd just said, "To the Batmobile!"

They gathered in the back of the plane. There were two benches and horizontal bars overhead. Maru sat on the benches, Elliott was too big, Figment hung from one of the bars, and Griff hung from the other with one hand while the plane went.

"Griff," Maru called during the ride. Griff turned himself around to face him. "Forward me that text. I have an idea."

"Alright," Griff said, getting his M-COMM out and pressing a few buttons with his thumb. A few seconds later, he put it away. "There, done."

Maru's M-COMM went off with a couple blips and beeps briefly, and he took it out. "Alright, let me see if I can pull this off," he muttered, and focused. The M-COMM started to glow a bit, and he grunted, holding his head. "Navi, get ready with the Full Heal..." he muttered. After a moment, he stopped and set the M-COMM down, panting.

"What?" Griff asked, looking worried.

Navi brought out the Full Heal and Maru took it, spritzing it in his hair. "It's a good thing we still get good reception in this thing...I basically psychically hacked into the M-COMM and followed the path from mine to yours to Mac's M-COMMs," he explained. "I should be able to go back through easier now that I've done it once..." He focused again, the M-COMM glowing once more. He gritted his teeth, trying as hard as he could, until he finally gasped, sat back, panting, and spritzed more Full Heal on his head. "...Th...There...Ow...Okay, I traced it back to where the text was sent, combining the message trail with the GPS and myself...I know where we need to go next." He entered the coordinates into his M-COMM's GPS. "It looks like she was able to get it right from outside his base, since I saw an odd opening behind some rocks in the backcountry run there."

"Let's get over there, right now!" Griff said enthusiastically.

Maru shook his head. "I have the feeling that if we do, the Unknown Rider will get there and find a way to screw us over, so we should wait until he's gone," he reasoned. "This guy seems like the kind you shouldn't mess with in his own home." He furrowed his brow. "Though...You were on to something, what you told me at the lodge..." he muttered. "He apparently only uses the SkiFreeks, with the others out of his control. How he has that power, I don't know, but it's something to watch out for.

"He's been targeting specific places with his Heartless: The courses, Rob & Bob's, and probably the main building I keep hearing about in the city, and perhaps the lodges; the other Heartless might have appeared after the SkiFreeks when we defended Kaori before, just we didn't notice. And from what he's said..." Maru narrowed his eyes. "...I think he's planning on destroying the entire circuit!"

Griff gaped and dropped from the bar. "That's crazy!! How??" he asked.

"One way, by sabotaging the races and other competitions and stopping the show, is my bet from my experience of what happened to us," Maru went on, leaning back against the wall. "Another, by destroying buildings important to the circuit, such as the board shop. And perhaps here is a case of dealing with the reasons this competition is alive still: The riders."

Griff gulped. "Man, I'm glad I'm with you guys, then," he stated a bit shakily.

"We're dropping off into the backcountry, right?" Maru checked.

Griff nodded. "Yeah, probably," he said. He thought for a moment. "You know, my friend Nate Logan, another SSX newbie, is there, and he's supposed to be the master of Peak 2, though I think he takes it with more fun than Mac does. Maybe he can help us somehow..."

Maru thought a moment. 'The snowboards as weapons...And all the riders managing to fight without knowing much...' He looked at Griff. 'It's their hearts. As strange as all the ones I've seen are, they all radiate an energy I have yet to fully grasp. They can fight the Heartless, and they will, to defend their passion, I can tell.' "Griff, I believe that putting your heart into your fighting allows you to strike the Heartless even when you don't know any self-defense or use a real weapon," he told him. "Your snowboard's effectiveness is proof. I believe that we can sabotage the Unknown Rider's sabotage, if we're correct."

Griff frowned. "How?" he asked.

"By convincing the other riders to defend the courses and keep riding," Maru answered. "Do riders listen when the masters of the peaks say something?"

Griff nodded. "Uh-huh. I mean, when they're serious. When they're mouthing off, not really, but everyone knows that they're not stupid--'cept maybe Psymon, 'cuz he's literally insane—and they wouldn't say that stuff about them being the masters without a good reason," he explained.

"If anything, we can have them rally everyone together as fellow riders," Maru suggested. "Let's talk to Nate when we get there and explain our story."

"Right," nodded Griff. He got out his M-COMM and dialed a number, then held it up to his ear. It rang a bit before it picked up. "Hello?...Yeah, it's me! Listen, where're you? ...The lodge? That's descriptive. Which track's it by? ...Ruthless Ridge? Great!! Stay there for a bit, will ya? I've gotta get down there and talk to you, it's important. Can't talk now, we're almost to the top of Ruthless. See ya!" And he hung up.

Maru blinked. "Sheesh, give him a chance to speak," he muttered.

"We really there?" asked Elliott, standing up and holding his skis.

"Yeah, I think," Griff said, nodding. "The plane's moving differently..."

Indeed, the plane leveled off and the door opened down and out. Maru and co. hurried to get their stuff while a stormy blast of snow and wind came in. They rode out and landed safely on the snow below, and Powder Pete flew off in the Osprey, Griff waving.

"C'mon, this place is dangerous, but we can take it," Griff said, beckoning. "In the meantime, why not see if we can find that place you found?"

Maru got up a map of the track on his M-COMM. "...Alright, just follow my instructions on paths to take," he said. "We'll handle the places in between alright, I hope." He turned to the dragons, biting his lip. "You two won't die, will you?" he asked.

They gulped back and were silent.

"Comforting."

They went off. The dragons barely made it sometimes, but they survived. After the broad landing area, they went through some natural, ceilingless corridors of stone, and soon faced wind pushing them towards a rock wall on their right. Then there was a giant jump that let them be carried by the wind for a massive air. Maru landed on the ice and nearly slipped. "Woah!" (Elliott, sadly, DID slip and fall. He thanked being so big right after, since his girth saved his rear some considerable pain.)

They went under a stone arch and made it to an area that was fairly broad and hilly. When they were there, they were assaulted by a group of different Heartless, and Maru knew that they probably couldn't ride on and leave them be. 'Besides, it's good for us,' he added with a smirk as they got off their rides and on to battle.

As they resumed, they went around rocks, down logs, past stony arches, and made it to an area with a split in the path that went under a giant stone arch. On the right was a tunnel within a tunnel, and another path on top of that, and on the left was a simpler ramp up to there. "We're getting there," Maru called. "Let's head..."

They continued onwards until they reached a point with a slope down between some ridges to the right of a small stand of trees. Maru raised his eyebrows and shouted, "Stop here!"

They stopped on the relatively broad, but somewhat steep, area. "To the right, we need to examine those ridges," Maru pointed while he used his other hand to get out of his bindings.

They walked over, careful of the slope, and leaned over the ridges. They found nothing Maru recognized, so they went down cautiously. Then, at the bottom of the bunch of ridges, Maru found, at a point that boarders would miss because it was behind them and they would be going too fast to notice anyway, a big, black rock. "That's the one," he said a bit quietly, pointing to it while the others peeked over the side of the ridge above it with him. "It takes some doing, but at least we'll be able to get there when we need to."

"That rock DOES kind of stick out," Figment muttered, cocking his head. "Will we have to, uh..._roll the stone away?_" he asked Maru, smirking a little.

Maru half-eyed him at the reference, but he shook his head. "I don't know, but we might have to. I presume it's either an illusion or it's a normal door."

Suddenly, it shook, and they all ducked behind the ridge before they could be seen. Over the wind, they heard a distorted voice...the Unknown Rider. "Alright, you bunch," he addressed, probably to SkiFreeks, "time to get into position to take Peak 2. We've wasted enough time on Peak 1." They heard some disappearing sounds and then the sound of someone boarding off.

They waited until they saw him disappear down a jump in the distance from their spot before they looked at each other and nodded. "Yup, it's definitely his base," Maru affirmed.

"Well, let's remember where it is, then we can just race over here from the top of Ruthless, the backcountry track we're on," Griff said. "Anyway, c'mon, Nate's waiting!" He jumped off and got on his board in midair, managing to turn it into a grab before landing and going on.

There was a wide, sort of circular area with a snowed-over construction machine ahead sometime where they fought another group of Heartless. From there, it was smooth—if dangerous—sailing down to the mid station with the lodge and transport station. This lodge was bigger than it looked—the café area had a high ceiling and a fair amount of room (especially since the tables had all been pushed to the walls, for cleaning, apparently). Some people were there, of course. In the rec room, someone was playing, of all things, disco music. (At least it was decent disco.) An orange afro-wearing guy in a loud outfit was dancing to it. The people playing pool stood and watched, those "well, well" smirks on their faces. The important thing, though, was the buzz-cut, stubbled, tall, well-built man sitting back on one of the café chairs with his feet on the table. He wore a black-and-grey-striped vest over a green hood with a star and two stripes design on each sleeve in white that reminded the party of American military. His pants were plain black and his boots were grey and red, mostly. He had his head resting in his finger-laced hands, which were in plain brown gloves...were they leather cowboy gloves?

Griff grinned and ran over, waving. "Nate!! Nate!!" he called.

Nate looked over and smiled, dark eyes shining. "Hey, it's little Griffy!" he said in a hearty voice, getting his feet off the table and leaning the chair back down. He held a big hand up and Griff slapped it, his hand somewhat dwarfed in the bigger man's. Nate rested his arms on his knees. "So, what's up? You finally get to Peak 2, huh?" he asked.

Griff shook his head as the others came. "No, Mac lent me his pass," he said. He looked serious. "Look, man, I'd love to shoot the breeze with you, but me and Maru are men on a mission!" He held up a fist and nodded as he spoke.

Nate raised his eyebrows before spluttering into laughter. "Pssssh-_aah_-ha-ha-ha!!" He rocked back in his chair a little before grinning at Griff. "Alright, I'll bite, what's the game?" he asked.

Griff frowned hurtly. "Na-ate!" he whined. "I thought you'd believe me, if anyone else!!"

Nate raised an eyebrow, mouth shrinking a bit. "You're really serious?" he asked.

"I said I was serious over the phone, didn't I?" Griff asked, waving an arm and raising an eyebrow back. He put his hand on his hip. "Look, you're not going to believe this, but Kaori's been kidnapped by that ninja-wannabe Unknown Rider, who's using these black-dressed skier monsters to sabotage the circuit, and he's blackmailed Mac into not riding so that Kaori will stay safe," he summarized while trying his best to not make it sound like a joke.

Nate couldn't help but smile a bit at this, letting a single small laugh out. "I-Hi don't believe it," he said.

The hairs on the back of Maru's neck stood up again and he grimaced, looking around warily. "Well, I think you're _about_ to believe it," he said darkly.

"Huh? Who're--" Nate began, looking at Maru before sounds of Heartless appearing made people turn their heads and many subsequently scream or yell. Nate just jumped in surprise and went, "WOO! Get a load of THOSE crawlers!!" a bit impressed instead of scared.

Three giant antlike things, two red and one black, appeared in the middle of the café. They were a bit shorter than Griff was tall and around half his height, so they weren't really all THAT big, but for ants, they were bigger than anyone had ever seen before. Heartless emblems were on their abdomens. They scuttled around, as vocally silent, and slowly advanced on people.

"New Heartless-type identified: Tuvhwjv. Subtype: Bug." (TUH-vhwuh-jjuv. Jibberish at its best!)

Maru and the others looked at his collar as Navi poked the Pokédex out to the Keyblader. An ID screen was on. Maru grabbed it and looked at it. "Well, talk about an attention-getter," he muttered before flipping it away and reaching for his belt. "Guys, I'll take that black one, you handle the other two!" he said.

Nate stood up. "Woah, you're gonna wrangle these suckers?" he asked, looking a bit excited and energetic.

"You could say that," Maru told him. "You should get out—" he paused, remembering what he'd observed earlier. "—or fight," he finished. He called out to everyone else, "GET OUT IF YOU CAN!! THIS IS DANGEROUS!!"

Most people followed his orders, but the guy at the bar and a girl at the other side of the café didn't make any movement to leave (though the bartender didn't have much of a way; the bar was somewhat high to vault without breaking anything behind it and the exit was out into the fray). Actually, a lot of them just retreated to safer positions to watch. The disco guy from the rec room stopped the music and watched, standing in awe, before someone told him to get himself and his big afro out of the way.

Nate pumped his fists. "Al_righty_!!" he enthused. He made his way to one of the red ones and whistled to it, catching its attention away from some fleeing people. "C'mon, partner, let's wrassle!!" he coaxed, getting into a crouching, ready position and slapping his legs.

Maru, meanwhile, maximized a ball. "Oi, Heartless!" he called. "Yeah, the black one!!" The black one turned away from the bartender and faced him. Maru narrowed his gaze. "You're coming with me or vanishing trying," he asserted. He tossed up the ball. "Punjari! Let's start off with Tackle!"

Punjari did as she was told, but the Tuvhwjv got up very quickly after getting hit and grabbed the Heartless-/Poison-type Pokémon with its mandibles. It threw her, back-first, towards Figment, who yelped and rolled away. She landed and rolled to slam into bar, bouncing away at an angle and skidding a bit. The bartender yelped and raced to catch some glasses before they fell, then grumbled and shouted, "COULD YOU DO THAT SOMEWHERE ELSE?!" over his shoulder.

"My thoughts exactly!!" came the gruff, deepish voice of the girl. She had short black hair with red tips, actual goggle-style grey goggles up in her hair, white lines of face paint on her cheeks and between her brown eyes, a black, ripped-off top that bared her arms and midsection (which had a spiky heart tattoo around the navel) to be covered by a black fishnet, a black and white striped sleeve on one arm that went with a similar fingerless glove, black straps on her other wrist and no glove, interesting pants that had a giant puzzle pattern of black, white, and warm colors (mostly reds and oranges), a brown belt with a silver buckle saying "ZOE", and red boots with black parts at the lace holes, the soles, and the sides. She grabbed the Tuvhwjv that was in front of her by the mandibles, stepped around it to get out of the way of the tables, turning it with her, and, with a roar, swung it around and throwing it through the window. She dusted her hands and turned to the others. "Next?" she asked, hand on a hip.

Nate laughed hard, holding his middle, while the barkeep slowly facepalmed. "That's not what I meant," he moaned. "Not again..."

"But I thought you meant to take it outside!" Nate smirked, and he grabbed his own. "Heave-HO!" And he tossed it through the hole in the window. He looked to the others and thumbed outside. "Well, let's get to it!" He looked at the girl. "C'mon, Zoe, finish what you started," he chided playfully and chuckled.

"Oh, this is gonna be fun," Zoe nodded, trotting out with a feisty grin. Nate followed after.

"That's Zoe 'Royal' Payne," Griff explained to Maru's amazed look, grinning up at him. "She's the tomgirl of the veterans, no doubt about it, and she doesn't mind a fight. Anyway, we should go out there and help, unless you need some backup here."

Maru shook his head. "I've got this," he assured. "If I need any help, I'll call for it." He looked forwards again. The two creatures in front of him were pacing warily. Griff and the dragons left, leaving him alone. He thought. 'I wanted to give Punjari a break from fighting...and she doesn't seem easily matched against this one...' He looked outside. 'I could take it outside, too, but...it looks like I'll have to use Terroge, and he might take more damage in the cold...' "Sorry, barkeep, but we're going to have to have this indoors," he said, holding up Punjari's ball. "Return!" He switched balls and got out Terroge.

Human heads turned as the great dragon pokémon appeared. Terroge started to let out a battlecry roar, standing straight and rearing up his head, when he bumped it on the ceiling (which was high for what it looked like outside, but not exactly high in general) somewhat forcefully. So, "TEEERRRR-_OW!!_" He whined and lowered his head, putting an oversized paw on top of it. "Man, I HATE low ceilings..." he growled, wincing and rubbing the spot on his skull. (He'd lost a hit point, too!)

"I know, sorry," apologized Maru, to whom Terroge turned his head. Maru pointed at the Tuvhwjv and started, "There's—" He stopped when he noticed that it had started to leave, going in back towards the gear shop. "—Wh..." 'Oh, no, you don't...I can't fight it in such close quarters...Terroge's too big...' He shook his head and started again, "There's a new Heartless-type over there that we need to take care of, and I don't want Punjari to get hurt more than she already is."

Terroge turned and raised his eyeridges. "Oh, the one with the nigh-unpronounceable name?" he asked.

"Yeah, that one."

Terroge smirked and got into fighting position, knuckles scraping the tile floor as he watched the pokémon skitter, one leg at a time, away from him. "Alright, how do you like your ant: Chocolate-coated, candied, or cremated?" he joked.

Maru chuckled at the alliteration in English. "Cremated, if you will," he answered, pointing. "Fire Punch! Then, let's get working on bringing it back into this room!" (This earned a, "That's NOT what I MEANT!!" from the secretary, who was ignored.)

Terroge gladly obliged, taking a step forward and sending his lanky reach to the Bug-type Heartless Pokémon. Instead of punching, though, he killed two birds with one stone: He spread his claws out and slammingly grabbed the bug by the thorax, arm aflame, and yanked it back into the café before releasing it to get ready for more commands.

Maru grin-smirked. "Since when did you get so smart?" he asked.

"Watching you from my ball," answered Terroge, shrugging. "My best guess."

Maru was thoughtful for a moment. "Or maybe you've got more than muscle up there," he muttered.

Terroge anger-veined and leaned down, shaking a fist while he barked, "I HEARD THAT!!" at his trainer, who laughed and braced himself before pointing at the bug and commanding to attack.

Outside, his comrades and the other two riders were busy fighting the other two Tuvhwjvs. Nate was using his brute strength very well, mostly grappling them and trying to subdue them, while Zoe just focused on kicking as much Heartless ass as humanly possible. They all took a few hits, but they could take it. Figment reminded them to steer clear of the front of the lodge because of the glass, which made Elliott squeak and wave his arms to stop himself from stepping foot in that area. Griff heard Maru talking to Terroge through the window and raised his eyebrows. "He can talk to them?" he muttered, looking at the window briefly.

"Yeah, he can," Figment answered, nearby. He threw a couple attack cards at the Tuvhwjv Zoe had given a hell of a kick to.

"I think it's 'cuz he's psycho—er, psychic," Elliott said before jumping to Body Slam the one Nate had in a grapple for the moment (making the man yelp and get out of the way before he was crushed).

Griff tilted his head and crossed his arms. "Really?" he asked. "You sure it's not something else? I mean, that's a good idea or, uh...theory, that's it, but, still, something doesn't seem right about it..." He looked curiously/suspiciously at Maru in the window before going and attacking whichever ant was nearest.

Meanwhile, the battle wore on, with Tuvhwjv getting in a few hits on Terroge, who didn't like it. He grunted and held his arm when he got a nasty Vicegrip on it. "Those fang things are pretty strong," he commented, snarling at the thing.

Maru frowned. "It's got impressive defense, too," he added.

Terroge looked around the room and narrowed his eyeridges. "Maru." He looked forwards, at his enemy.

"Yes?"

"I've got an idea that might help--an attack..." He clenched a giant fist and shook it slightly.

Maru tilted his head in curiosity. "What?" he asked.

"...Just let me."

Maru looked around. Everyone was at a decent distance, or they could all get back from there. Many had places to hide behind, like the barkeep. His teammates were outside and could handle it (hopefully, given the fact that glass would fall as well as the attack if it indeed broke the window). He nodded. "Go ahead."

Terroge gave an unearthly roar and slammed his palms down on the floor. Instantly, black shadows spread out from the epicenters of the two small earthquakes he created, creeping along the ground like puddles. They shot towards the Tuvhwjv, which tried to back up a bit. It was too slow, though, and the shadows reached its legs and crept up the jointed limbs and enveloped it. Suddenly, the room went dark as the only one seen was Tuvhwjv. A second later, though, Terroge was falling down on top of it, claws outstreched and eyes, to Maru's dismay, white. Terroge grabbed the pokémon as soon as he had landed and flipped down onto his feet, making an arcing bridge with his body. Using the momentum, he flipped fully and threw his prey over his head and right across to a wall in the darkness. It wasn't a real wall, but was solid in the shadows. The bug hit the wall and skidded down slowly as the shadows melted away and Terroge was standing, panting, normal-eyed again. The "wall" revealed its temporary nature when there was but air in the spot it was. Now, Tuvhwjv was five feet in front of Maru, not looking TOO much more hurt but still not too chipper; it wasn't moving.

Maru gaped at Terroge. "Holy mother of..." he muttered before clenching a fist and asking, "What attack was THAT?"

Terroge pointed at the enemy. "Quick, it's been knocked unconscious for a little bit!" he alerted instead.

Maru looked and nodded. Indeed, the thing was asleep for the moment. He focused and turned his Keyblade into a Light Ball before doing his spinning wind-up and throw. "Light Ball...GO!!" The round capsule shot out, curving through the air towards the form. It hit and sucked in the Tuvhwjv in the now-familiar flash of light and darkness. While the ball wobbled, Maru was tense and waiting. Everything was silent for the long five seconds before...

Puuuuun!!

Maru grin-smirked and chuckled. "HEH! Gotcha!" He went over and picked up the monster ball and did his ball-bobbing victory dance. "I caught...a Tuvhwjv." He held the ball in one hand while shielding his eyes with the other arm when the heart burst forth and floated off before putting the ball at his belt. He flicked out his Pokédex before looking up at Terroge, who walked over to him. "Still waiting," he said.

Terroge looked away for a bit before replying, finally, in a quiet voice, "Night of Fate." He closed his eyes and continued, "It's a fairly strong Heartless-type attack—weaker than it looks, though—that sometimes makes the pokémon on the receiving end fall asleep long enough for the other side to get a free shot in." He looked at his arms before crossing them. "I...would rather not use it...since...y'know..." He looked away.

Maru smiled sympathetically and walked over to his pokémon. "You're not really a Heartless anymore, remember?" he asked softly, putting a hand on him.

"Yeah, but you saw what happened to me..." he murmured, still not looking at Maru.

"So? _You_ were in perfect control. That's what counts, you know." Maru smiled and patted Terroge, who looked at him with a silent "thank you" in his eyes. Maru then stepped back, getting his ball out. Maximizing it, he said, "Well, c'mon, you deserve a good rest. Return." The beam fired from the eye-shaped button.

Terroge nodded, smiling a bit, before the beam hit him and he returned to his ball. Maru then looked at his Pokédex's newest entry.

H#12: Tuvhwjv (TUH-vhwuh-jjuv). The Army Ant Pokémon. Types: (1) Heartless / (2) Bug. Ability: Hive Mind (Increases ATK and SP ATK when an ally Bug-type enters the battle.). Length: 4' 1.8" (Height: 2' 8"). Weight: 131 lbs. Color: Black, Red. Entry: Though able to fend for itself quite well, it prefers to travel in groups, with which it joins in executing impressive actions, such as forming structures on the jungle floor to trap prey.

Maru raised an eyebrow at this. "I wonder if this is based on a normal pokémon," he muttered. "I mean, I've yet to encounter an ant pokémon, but there's got to be one..." He glanced at the pictures. The one marked "Violent, Female" had the bug as he had seen it before. Its big, almond-shaped eyes were white and eerie, as all Heartless eyes are. The emblem was on its abdomen, as before. When he looked at the "Normal, Female" shot, the eyes were now orange with small pupils. The emblem was replaced with a couple red streaks. There was also a "Violent, Male" one that was of the red ones seen before. It was in the same pose as "Violent, Female". Maru switched eyebrows before flipping the 'dex closed and putting it away. "Interesting. Though..." He crossed his arms and looked up, sweatdropping a little. "What's an ant doing all the way in the alpine? Wouldn't it freeze?"

"Maybe Heartless have natural insulation?" suggested Elliott from the door. Everyone else was back inside, their battle done.

Maru turned at the sound, then chuckled and shook his head, throwing his hands up. "Good a guess as any," he said, walking over to the group. He looked at Zoe. "Thanks for helping," he nodded.

Zoe scoffed and crossed her arms, slouching. "Psh, those things were push-overs," she bragged. "Felt good to get some aggression out, though. So, what the heck's goin' on?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Those things aren't part of what I told Nate with the Unknown Rider, but for now, at least, they're a bit of a problem," Griff answered, shrugging. "But they're basically the same thing that he's using."

"What'd you tell the cowboy, here?" Zoe inquired.

"That the Unknown Rider's trying to sabotage the circuit with the Heartless he controls, and that he's kidnapped Kaori," Maru replied. He looked at Nate. "You've seen what Heartless are, and surely you saw what happened down at Snow Jam a while ago."

Nate nodded. "Yeah, I was there," he said. "I saw you there, too, now that I think about it. They DID seem awfully suspicious..." He furrowed his brow and thought a moment.

"You saw Griff fighting with his snowboard out there, right?" Maru asked. Nate and Zoe nodded.

"Yeah, pretty funny, but kinda cool," Zoe chuckled, smirking at the boy. Griff _blushed _and smiled weakly.

Nate patted Griff on the back (lightly, maybe, but still enough to make him grunt and arc forwards a step), laughing. "Yeah, good job with that thing, man!" he complimented.

"Well, normally, I doubt that's possible," Maru continued, attention returning to him. He smirked, crossing his arms. "I have an idea why it works for him: His passion for the sport allows him to strike the Heartless with something that normally isn't a weapon, which usually doesn't work, as I, myself, experienced."

"So what we want you guys to do is convince the other riders on the mountain to stay around the courses and fight off those weird skier things," Griff told them, smiling and holding a fist up a little. "If a little kid could do it, you guys, can, too! Heck, I don't think you even NEED boards...well, at least tough guys like you two don't."

Zoe smirked and made a muscle. "Yeah, I'm just the mistress of buttwhup," she said in mock modesty.

Nate nodded, rubbing his hands together. "Well, after that little tussle, I'm ready for anything—I'll do it," he agreed.

"I've got nothing better to do, so I might as well do it, too," Zoe shrugged. She punched her palm. "If this really is happening, that some bozo's trying to kill the circuit like that, then he picked the WRONG gal to mess with."

Maru breathed a little sigh of relief. "Thank you two so much," he said. "I was worried you might not believe us."

"Well, Atomika HAS said stuff about how Mac's quit the circuit and how Kaori's missing, and that's all pretty suspicious, anyway," Nate added, raising an eyebrow and crossing his arms. "So yeah, we'll round up the riders who hang around Peak 2 and have 'em stake out the courses."

"Now, doncha have to get to Peak 3 and warn 'em?" Zoe asked, thumbing out the door. "I'm sure you can butter up Powder Pete or Dangerous Dave to let you up there. If anything, tell 'em I sent ya. That outta do it."

"Thanks, guys," Griff said, grinning. "I'll be back! I've still gotta earn my own pass up here!" He turned to Maru and the dragons. "C'mon, man, time's a-wastin'!"

Maru remembered something. "Wait! Before I go, this should be quick," he said, getting his M-COMM out.

"What is it?" Griff asked.

"Map...Ah, good, they do have the map here..." A few seconds later, Maru smirked and put his M-COMM away. "Now we really know where to go next time," he said. He nodded. "Alright, let's go!"

*****OBTAINED Peak 2 Map*****

They hurried out the door and looked around. The transport station was nearby, so they jogged over to it. "I wonder if we'll know about the results of the attempted sabotage, somehow," Griff thought aloud.

"Maybe we should wait?" suggested Elliott.

"No, we should get to Peak 3 in case he moves faster than we do," Maru shook his head. They got to the transport station. "Griff, get us there."

"I'll try," he said before approaching the man there. He was dressed up in a red jacket and blue jeans and wore a plain red baseball cap that looked like it had seen many years. "Hey, Dangerous Dave?"

It took a while, but they finally convinced Dave to get them to Peak 3's only station, the black station. (In the meantime, Maru set up and used a save disc behind the transport station building.)

Meanwhile, down at the Ruthless Ridge race, it was midway into the final round. A few SkiFreeks were on the track, ready to knock down unsuspecting riders. However, when they rode up, the riders just either boosted into them with a huge punch or they jumped and spun quickly, knocking them over with their boards. One rider, a mullet-sporting guy with a gut showing over cow print pants, was surrounded by them before he hit a jump. Wowing anyone who didn't know him, he jumped and spin-flipped rapidly, knocking them away and down the gap the jump went over. He landed and pumped his arm. "'At's LUTHUR fer ya!" he stated proudly in a deep voice.

Meanwhile, in places around the track, SkiFreeks waiting to go on the track or approaching key supports of the stands were met with disqualified riders' boards cutting into them and trips. Overall, the entire race was kept safe. The Unknown Rider watched this on a screen from a hiding spot near the beginning of the track. He banged his fist on a part of the stands before turning and riding off. Nate got out of hiding from there, smirking at the guy. He got out his M-COMM and dialed a number. "...Hey, Griff? It's Nate. Just wanted to say that Operation Ski Patrol is going perfectly!!" he said very confidently.

Back on the Osprey, Griff grinned and looked at everyone. "Nate says that it's working!" he related excitedly. He brought the M-COMM up again and said, "Thanks, Nate. Keep it up! We're counting on you!!" before he hung up. He pumped his arm. "Yessss!!"

"Now we just need to do the same to the master of Peak 3!" Figment cheered.

Griff's face fell at that. "Oh...you mean Psymon..." he muttered.

The others made awkward "Oh..." faces at this. "Wait, Zoe seemed pretty in control, too," Maru noticed.

Griff's face lit up, smiling as he remembered and hope returned. "Of _course_! The Peaks each basically have TWO Masters!" he realized. "One is the real Master—Mac, Nate, and Psymon—while the other is his rival—None yet, Zoe, and Elise." He chuckled. "Hopefully that 'None yet' turns out to be me," he added a little boastingly, thumbing his nose.

Maru chuckled and smirked at this, but said nothing.

*-*-*

*It's during one of the Gummi Ship flights between the worlds, not during now. Figment is reviewing some of the Gummi Ship designs he's made using the editor on the ship.*

Figment: Hmmmmm...I should consider getting one of these built...*brings up a huge, ornate, deadly-looking flagship design*...Nah, too fancy.

Figment: *brings up a medium-sized one that looks like a fighter plane*...Cool, but too unoriginal.

Figment: *brings up a small one that just looks like a ship, very minimalistic*...Too weak.

Figment: ...Hmmmm...*brings another design up*...Ah-HAH! _THERE _we go!! *grins* I'm gonna ask Cid about building this one next chance we get!

Maru: *fortunately at a place he could look away for a moment, since there's nobody around for a bit, so he looks over* What is it? *he sees and blinks, eyes wide but with the lower lids up a bit*

Figment: *moves aside to show it* THE CACTAUR MODEL!! *on screen is a ship that is basically a big, green, weird-faced, running cactus*

Maru: *anger-veins and half-eyes, speaks through gritted teeth* There's NO WAY in HELL I'm piloting that thing!

Elliott: *leans over to see the cactus and just raises an eyeridge in confusion*

Figment: C'mon! You have to admit, it looks _pretty sharp!!_ *holds mouth open in a smile and bounces eyeridges a couple times*

Maru and Elliott: *groan and facepalm*

*-*-*

I had to. I just had to. Silliest blueprint in Kingdom Hearts history. Edited out some stuff I wanted to save for next time. And, hey, Maru captures another Heartless-type pokémon!! (And I'm considering having him nickname it because "Tuvhwjv" is a pain in the ass to write, and I wonder if you'll even figure out the pun...) We also see our first Heartless-type attack, Night of Fate. I wish I could've done something less-cool to match how much damage it does, but...*shrug* Oh, well. I'll come up with cooler attacks. (Comparitively, Sinister Sundown is equally flashy, with all its bullets and the teleport finish, but hey.

In other news, I forgot that I have a wiki for anyone who's lost! ...Sadly, at this point in time, I haven't updated it with NEARLY enough to help anyone who's lost. If you know some stuff and want to contribute, go right ahead! It's ferretrip (dot) wikia (dot) com. I know, pretentious, but...hey, it's for all the stuff I make, because I know people will get lost in my works somewhere. It's there to help. (And for me to keep track of all I've made. *sweatdrop*) But yeah. I'll add entries about the Heartless-type pokémon sometime, and about Maru, and about the other characters, and about the stories of the worlds, and etc., etc., eventually, if nobody else will.

Otherwise, I'm still trying to finish this up! Hopefully it won't be as much time-wasting as it's turning out to be...sorry for the slow start on the REAL plot, folks! (Though I'm kinda half-assing because I realized that working with the plot outline I made up logically is a lot harder than I thought, since they'd have to know what the enemy was doing without the enemy knowing...) Next time, hopefully some more action (which we haven't seen much of, have we, compared to other worlds?)!


	30. 17: Unintentional Black Frost Allusion

Maru and co. got off the Osprey and out into one of the highest places they'd ever been. The sky was slightly darkened because of how high they were—how close to space they were. At least, that's what Maru assumed. They were conveniently close to the lodge, so they trotted over. Maru had a feeling about the place, though, and wondered if any Heartless would appear there. None did, so they went inside and found the standard lodge layout in front of them.

As well as a familiar face.

Griff looked around while the others followed. "Where...?" he muttered, walking and looking around the café. Behind him, Elliott grunted in surprise quietly and moved aside, Figment and Maru (who clenched his fists warily) after. Griff turned to go look in the rec room and jumped back in surprise as he almost ran into someone's chest. "Whoa!! Sor—" he began, stumbling away and looking up. He stopped when he met the face and frowned. "Psymon."

Psymon scoffed and crossed his arms at Griff, frowning. "And what are YOU doing here?" he asked, nonplussed.

Griff shook his head. "I'm not cheating, honest," he swore first off. "The reason I'm here has nothing to do with the circuit. Well...okay, it has a LOT to do with it, but not the way you think."

Psymon tilted his head far to the side and raised an eyebrow, exaggerating the expression. "Rrrrreaallly," he drawled out. He pushed his face close to Griff's, stroking his weird beard as he stared suspiciously into his eyes. "And what, exactly, does _that_ all mean?" he asked in a low, sinister voice.

Griff stepped back a bit from Psymon's face being so close to his. "W-well, uh, you might think I'm crazy, but--" he began.

Psymon cackled. "I _already _think you're crazy!!" he announced, standing up straight again and putting a hand to his side. He leaned his head forwards a bit and smirked. "You should join the club."

Griff shook his head and stomped his foot resolutely. "Psymon, we're here to save the circuit!" he declared. "Save it from the Unknown Rider and those Heartless he's using!"

Psymon blinked at this, then laughed jeeringly at him, leaning back and holding his stomach. "Uh-_HAAAAAAAH-_ha-hah-_haaaaahhh!!_" He pitched forward and shook his head. "Now I _really _think you're crazy!!"

"He's not," Maru said, walking around his side with his arms crossed. Psymon looked up at him from his bent-over position with a "what do you want?" frown and eye narrowing. Maru stopped and leaned against a table. "We're working together—I want to stop any Heartless activity, he wants to save the circuit. And we both want to help Kaori, whom the Unknown Rider kidnapped."

Psymon sighed, standing straight and running a hand through his hair, then let out a small, quiet laugh. "Haaaaaaahhh......hah-hah-hhaaaahhh...!" He looked at him again, head down a bit so he can stare under his eyebrows, and smiled. "You're playing with a little kid, huh?" he asked in a, "You honestly want me to think you're serious, huh." tone. He turned the rest of his body to him, crossing his arms, and looked at him with head up again normally. He dropped the smile. "I thought you had some BRAINS under all that grapiness."

Maru couldn't help but smirk. "Believe you me, I have brains you _wouldn't_ believe," he boasted. '"Grapiness"??'

Psymon grinned. "What, are they scrambled? Or are they fried, like mine?" he asked in that low, sinister, airy voice.

Maru was about to frown, but ended up just losing the smirk. 'Scrambled...He's right, in a way,' he mused wryly. He glanced at Griff before looking back. "Do you want to listen to us, or are you just going to try and freak us out?" he queried calmly.

Psymon laughed again. "Listen?" he repeated, raising an eyebrow. "The day I start listening to _that _runt is the day he shows _me_ that he's actually _supposed to be_ on this circuit!" He pointed to Griff and then himself before throwing his hand away in gesticulation, voice going up from that low voice to a near shout, face going from smile to frown.

"Then leave us alone," Griff said stiffly.

Psymon turned to him, looking surprised. He put his hand to his mouth. "I beg your pardon?" he asked in mock hurt.

Griff crossed his arms and took a step towards him. "Quit wasting everyone's time bugging us," he ordered firmly. "I mean it, man."

Psymon blinked, then laughed. "Aw, ain't that _cuuuuute_, the lil' kid's acting all _tough_ and ordering me around!" he mocked after his laughing, puckering up his lips at "cute". He scoffed and batted his hand. "Bah, but you're right, I'm wastin' my time on you bags o' bore," he admitted, sounding bored, himself, half-eying. He turned and started out the door. "Later." He stopped as he grabbed his board, though, and grinned maniacally at Griff. "But just remember, little Griffin," he said in that low voice, "when you get that Peak 3 pass..." He nodded. "...I'll be waiting." He gave no laugh as he left; he just kept staring at him as he walked out the door with his board.

Griff stuck his tongue at him back before he left. "I'll be ready," he said. The door shut, and Griff sighed aggrivatedly, shaking his head. "Man, that guy gives me the creeps," he grumbled.

"Great way not to let him walk all over you, Griff!" Figment complemented, getting on the table behind him and slap-rubbing his back.

Griff grinned sheepishly at him. "Heh, thanks, man," he returned quietly.

Maru nodded, going over. He smiled approvingly. "That was good. One should never let someone pick on them like he does...through intimidation." He frowned and looked around at everyone, who was staring, still. He cleared his throat loudly, and they all returned to what they were doing. He shook his head. "Something tells me they shouldn't be surprised with that guy," he muttered.

"They just like the show, that's all," Griff shrugged.

Maru looked up, noticing there were people in the gear shop. In particular, a well-cured blonde pony-tailed woman in a tight, white jacket that bared her belly button, a pair of flare-bottomed pants that were black at the top and designed past the knee with vertical red and white stripes, a few blue ones cutting diagonally across the center, and white boots beneath them. She was looking at a snowboard in the shop. "_Some_one doesn't seem to want to sacrifice fashion for function," he muttered.

"Who?" Griff turned to follow his gaze and gasped happily. "It's her! C'mon!" he beckoned, and they followed him as he trotted over. "Hey, Elise!!"

"Hum?" She turned and looked down a little before smiling, blue eyes shining in the light. "Oh, hey, Griff!" she greeted. Her voice was feminine, but had a strength that was a little unexpected. "What's up? How'd _you_ get up here so fast?"

Griff stopped by her, blushing a bit. "Um, well, I..." He suddenly was at a loss for words. Maru came up behind him and slapped him in the back, knocking him into gear again. He said as clearly as he could, "I convinced Dangerous Dave to give me a lift up here because I really, _reaaally_ need to ask you something important."

"Oh?" Elise went, smiling at the boy's nerves. She looked up and noticed Maru and raised an eyebrow. "Ho...Makin' sure Griff doesn't get in trouble?" she asked playfully, slouching with a hand on her hip. Her gloves were white.

Maru tilted a hand. "Sort of; more like help him make sure the circuit doesn't," he answered.

Navi poked a little out of his collar and suppressed a gasp before hiding again. 'By the goddesses, she looks good!' she thought. 'Good thing Maru's actually Mewtwo and thus isn't affected by her...Otherwise I would've had need to smack him...'

Elise tilted her head, smirking. "Playing a little game?" she guessed.

Griff shook his head. "Uh-uh!! No, Elise, I _mean _it!" he insisted, shaking his fists (and blushing a little more; his reddened skin made his freckles that much more noticeable). Elise looked down at him in a little surprise. Griff gulped and continued. "Um...W-well, this is kinda h-hard to believe," he stammered, "but...well..."

"Go on!!" whispered Figment in encouragement behind him.

Griff clenched his fists and took a deep breath before trying again. "You're going to think I'm playing around or something, but I'm really not; you need to listen to me, man," he told her as seriously as he could. He then floundered a moment, going, "Uh, I mean, girl...woman..._Eeek! _That's worse!!..."

Elise laughed. "Oh, don't worry, I know what you mean," she told him kindly. She leaned down to him a bit, hands on knees. "Now, what is it?"

Griff chuckled sheepishly before he cleared his throat and put his hands behind his back. "Elise, Kaori has been kidnapped by the man known as the _Un_known Rider, and he's planning on wrecking the circuit through the use of demented skier monsters known as Heartless," he reported in a play-serious tone, though maybe unintentionally.

Elise raised her eyebrows. "Oh? Well, it _is _true that there've been some weird things going around Peaks 1 and 2..." she muttered, looking away and putting a hand to her chin, straightening up.

"We want to stop the Unknown Rider from getting up here to Peak 3 and sabotaging the races and other events," Maru informed. "Please believe us."

Elise frowned a bit, looking a bit unsure. "Wellllll..."

"We've even got Nate and Zoe working on Peak 2!" Griff added, nodding.

"Zoe?!" Elise whipped her head to look at him, raising her eyebrows again. "You serious?"

Griff's M-COMM beeped at that moment. "Oh, shoot, hang on," he said, flipping it out. "Text...HAH! See?" He turned it and showed it to her.

She took it and read aloud in an undertone. "'I overheard the UR saying he was going to head to Peak 3 if the other race isn't doing well; hurry up! –Zoe'..." She blinked in amazement and lowered the M-COMM, which Griff took. "Well, smack me with a trout, you're not joking," she muttered. She narrowed her eyes. "Why's this guy trying to kill the circuit?" she asked, sounding a bit offended and spreading her arms out. "What'd we do to him?"

"Apparently, as far as I can tell, he believes the sport is as corrupted as any other," Maru shrugged. "From my little experience, I can't say whether he's right or not, but I know he shouldn't express his complaints in such a way."

Elise humped, crossing her arms and pouting a bit. "Sure, this sport's got its share of stupid officials and media swarming," she admitted, "but snowboarding is still free and pure! It'll always be just you, the slopes, and the competition. And it's _nothing _compared to, like, football, or anything."

'It kind of helps that it's only available a certain time of the year,' Maru mused.

"Anyway, Elise," Griff said, "you need to get everyone's attention on Peak 3 and tell them to protect the tracks!" He lifted his snowboard and grinned. "We got the power, man! We can use these as weapons, if nothing else!"

Elise smirked, raising an eyebrow and putting a hand on her hip again. "Well, not surprised; I wouldn't want to get whacked with a board if I could help it," she chuckled. She nodded. "But honestly, yeah, I'll tell everyone. What are those things we should be looking out for?"

"They're these all-black skier things with scarves that rocket around," Griff described. "You should try tripping them when they're charging, 'cuz they fall and start rolling around in a snowball!! It's funny AND effective!" He laughed.

Elise giggled. "So we can make skier snowmen! I've always wanted to do that," she joked. She nodded. "Alright, you guys, thanks for the warning. I'll be sure to tell everyone around about it."

"Really? Yes! Thanks, Elise!" Griff enthused, punching the air and grinning.

Elise smiled at him. "Hey, no problem, Griff," she said. "Oh, never got your name," she added, looking at Maru, smile gone while she looked questioningly at him.

"Maru," he nodded. He shrugged, tilting his head left and right while he said as unarrogantly as he could, "Filled in for Kaori at Snow Jam, won a contest for an M-COMM, you might have heard of me."

Elise nodded her head back, smiling again. "Yeah, I thought you looked like someone I'd heard about," she said. "DJ Atomika talked about you."

"What is WITH DJ Atomika saying all these things without us knowing?" Griff asked all of a sudden, lifting an eyebrow. "I mean, we're listening all the time and everything..."

"We've been awfully busy," Maru supposed.

"And I'm gonna be busy, too," Elise said. "Thanks for warning me, but I guess I should get to work, huh?" She raised an eyebrow at them.

They nodded and got out of her way. "Nice costumes, by the way," she added to the dragons as she passed, winking. Elliott, who'd been hanging in back, blushed even more than Griff. Elise walked outside

"What, nervous around women?" asked Figment slyly. Elliott nodded vigorously and Figment sniggered. "You'll get over it."

Maru and Griff walked over to them. "Alright, now what?" inquired Griff.

"Now, we...Hold on," Maru held a finger up. "For the future..." He got his M-COMM out and fiddled with it for a couple seconds before raising an eyebrow in unhappy confusion. "_What?_ They don't have the Peak 3 map for download here?...Great, I just wasted some time..." He sighed and put it away before looking normally at Griff again. "Well, anyway, _now_, we get back down to Ruthless and get into his base while he's busy trying to get things done up here," Maru answered. "As fast as he moves, he'll most likely be here by the time we get there."

"Alright! Time to save Kaori!!" Griff cheered.

"Griff? We're inside," Maru reminded him.

"Oh! Sorry..."

Of course, once outside, they had a group of Heartless to deal with, and they did so before running back to the transport station. Maru had noticed by now that the music seamlessly flowed into "Screw Up" again whenever they got into battle, then back into "Ride" when it was over. At the transport station, Griff showed Mac's Peak 2 pass again. "Can you drop us off at Ruthless?" Griff asked Dangerous Dave, who was still there from last time.

"Sure thing!" was the simple reply.

- - -

The party rode down Ruthless again, stopping to battle partway down again before continuing on until they reached the spot they stopped last time. They got off their boards (and sled and skiboards) (and Maru set up a save disc by the stand of trees to the left of the slope). (After using said save disc,) Griff led them down to where they needed to go again. They crouched behind the ridge like last time and watched the entrance. "You think he's there?" Griff whispered to Maru.

"I don't know," Maru answered.

Suddenly, Griff got another text message, which he quickly checked. "Forgot to silence this...Oh!"

"You were right—those skier things came and are trying to break the stands and stuff on Gravitude and are trying to make people crash before the big, dangerous jumps. We warned 'em so everything's smooth as silk. And I saw that weird Unknown Rider guy—he seemed pretty ticked. Thanks for telling me about this! –Elise"

"Yes! He's gone!" Griff pumped his arm, speaking normally. "But we gotta hurry, man! There's only one race track on Peak 3, which means one less track for him to check, and who knows if that's the last place he went or not!"

"Don't need to tell me twice," Maru said before jumping out.

They landed on the snow with a grunt and climbed up to the rock. They pushed at it and pulled at it, but it wouldn't budge. "It's locked, of course," Figment grumbled, standing on top of it and stomping it.

"Wait," Maru said after he remembered something, and he summoned the Keyblade. He pointed it at the rock and focused on it. A beam of light shot out from the bit and poured down the rock. A click was heard, and Elliott squeaked in surprise as his pushing made it swing open, flinging Figment. The little dragon flew to safety, though, and they examined the opening. It was barely big enough to fit Elliott in, if crawled in tail-first and sucked his stomach in. Below, they saw steep, dark stairs and a light coming from somewhere at the end.

"Well, that works," Griff said, looking at the Keyblade.

"Just warn me next time!" Figment scolded, and they chuckled.

They went down the opening, Elliott coming last and shutting the door behind him (the rock was actually just given a single hollow where a bar of rock served as an inside handle; the only other alteration was the locking mechanism, which Maru gathered was controlled remotely). They went down the stairs and into the hidden room of the mountain.

It was a very large, fat oval-shaped, very dark grey stone cave, modified with modern appliances. The floor was mostly even, though it raised up a couple inches in the far right section. A few stalagmites came from the ground in places around the edges and one in the middle of the room, and the high ceiling had its great share of them. Big, white rectangle lights, like in offices, were in the ceiling, shining brightly, some attached to sawed-down stalctites. On one wall were many, many, many screens of different shapes and sizes, most of them showing videos of different spots on the mountain, and one bigger one looking like a normal computer screen. A red rolling chair sat at a desk with multiple keyboards, a clock, speakers, and a calender held on a book stand. An M-COMM was sitting on the chair. Strewn around that side of the cave were a few small, disc-like objects. In the back was darkness...they heard running water and saw the corner of a bed. On the right side of the cave were three other, smaller caves, with iron prison bars and a computer keypad by the locks. Holes went up from the ceilings of those smaller caves, probably vents to some hidden places on the surface. In the middle one was...

"KAORI!!" Griff gasped, and he and the others raced over.

Kaori was sitting with her back against the wall of the cave, hands and legs in frog position, bowing her head sadly. When she heard Griff, she looked up and gasped. "_Griff-kun??_" she asked in awe. "Is...that you?" She stood up and went over to the bars.

Griff and the others stopped in front of the bars, and everyone clutched them, the boys smiling in at her. "You're safe!!" Griff said, looking her up and down. "That jerk wasn't lying! Or...was he?"

Kaori shook her head, smiling. "No worries," she assured him. She saw Maru and smiled. "_Maru-san!_ You came, too?" she asked in Japanese.

Maru nodded, smiling. "Hai." He looked at the door. "We're here to get you out," he told her in Japanese. "Mac is very worried about you. He was forced to promise he'd quit the circuit so that you would be safe."

"Mac-kun...?" Kaori whispered, blushing. She frowned a little. "I hope he's alright..." She smiled again and bounced in her cute little way. "_Arigato, _everyone!" she said in English. "Now, get me..." Kaori's smile faded as she looked past them at the computer screen, fading right into a grimace of fear. "Um...I think you have trouble," she said quietly, stepping back from the bars.

"What, is he back?" Griff asked, turning around. The screen was flashing red. "INTRUDER ALERT" was on it in black. He gulped, making a "yeek" face. "Well, he's GONNA be if he isn't by now!!"

Maru's neck tingled again, and he got out his Keyblade. "Kaori-chan, stay in there, where it's safe," he told her in Japanese quickly. "We'll handle this..." He looked forwards again.

Before them appeared a giant Heartless that looked like an extremely overweight, jet black snowman on Elliott-width sharp-tipped, red-edged, grey skis. Its chest area was broad and had a crease in the middle, implying muscle instead of fat, and its stick arms were made of sticks about as thick as one of those oversized pencils. It had emblems for the three buttons up its stomach and wore a black-and-dark blue-striped scarf. Its eyes and mouth were standard Heartless—round, white, and empty and jagged and open, respectively—but its normal bright carrot nose strangely stuck out. It wore a dark green hunter's earflap cap, oddly. The dark blue poles it clutched in its black mittens ended in sharp, silver-tipped spikes. A big, snow-made jetpack was on its back. It stomped a ski, squishing up its lower body as it raised the plank as if lifting a leg in a skirt. The floor shook from its weight.

The battle began. Maru and the others fought the Heartless, which was faster than they'd thought. It attacked with charges, jumping spins, the poles, and a Blizzard breath attack that hurt the dragons a lot (but not as much as it would have without the equipment Maru had given them). To make things worse, only Fire/Ember, final hits, and some of Elliott's more forceful attacks actually made it notice the pain. Their attacks, save the hot ones, made deep THUMPs like hitting a piece of snow that tough. Maru wondered what exactly it was made of, since it didn't exactly feel like snow he was hitting—just normal Heartless flesh. During the battle, Kaori would sometimes cheer them on, saying, _"Osu!"_ _"Gan-bat-te!!"_ and _"Yuuki o dashite!!"_ which Maru later translated as an encouraging "hey", "Come on!!" and "Be brave!!". (The "come on" one is spaced out because that's how she said it, emphasizing each syllable.) She said the last one whenever one of the dragons got struck with the Blizzard breath attack and the other two every so often otherwise.

Sometime during the first minute, Maru had an idea. 'Maybe if I yank on its scarf when we make it fly up from a hit, I can slam it to the floor and cause more damage,' he wondered. After this thought occurred to him, he felt a chance in the Keyblade after unleashing a combo finisher on it. He took it, quickly grabbing the scarf from behind it and yanking it down to the ground.

Instead of slamming it down, Maru pulled off its _head!_

When this happened, the snow melted...or, really, became a huge group of about twenty-five SkiFreeks. "One of THOSE monsters," grumbled Navi when she observed this. "Like Jalhalla, the king of poes..." These SkiFreeks were different, though—they moved faster and attacked more aggressively than normal. Plus, the tripping chance didn't work because there was no snow to use it with. However, they were also a little weaker, being defeated in a single combo. But they still were having a bit of a hard time with them. "GOOOOO!!"Kaori cheered once in a while during this part.

Maru grunted and blocked one that came past him with a swinging ski pole. "This is annoying, and we're wasting time," he grunted. "We need to take care of them, quick!"

Griff looked over at Maru when he said this. "But how? We can't trip 'em if there's no snow, and, heck, I can't attack them with snow, either..." he trailed off.

"Snow..." Maru looked at Griff's board, and he remembered a power he felt when they'd gotten Mac's Peak Pass. He nodded. "Griff!" he called. Griff looked at him. "We don't need snow to beat them! You with me?" His Keyblade started to glow.

Griff raised his eyebrows as he felt something inside of him. "Whoa," he whispered, then he knew what to do, nodding. "I'm with you, man!" he responded, knowing what excitement was about to unfold.

"Then let's do it!!" Maru shouted, activating the Limit.

"Griff, comin' through!" Griff warned as he and Maru, who'd pulled his board to him, rode at each other before they jumped into the air, going past each other as they each did a FS spin (both rode Regular) and slapping hands. The ends of their boards and their hands produced streams of ice blue light. Maru threw his Keyblade into the ground as he jumped, and when it hit, a huge whirlwind of snow billowed forth. The snow caught their bodies and allowed them to float for the duration of the Limit. As well, for the whole time their boards were off the ground, the music in their earbuds (which, oddly, was something more acoustically instrumental than techno-y for the battle; it was drastically different from the norm for when Maru faced the Tuvhwjv, as well) achieved that flanger effect that occurred whenever Maru (or Griff) got big air on the track.

From there, they did the customary switching off attacks. First, they dashed forwards together, Maru doing an intense flip-spin while bouncing in a zig-zag with Griff in front, doing a Frog Hop (doing a literal frog hop with the board, spinning it like a propeller whose blade is sideways below him...a trick that might almost be done in real life), targeting a wide path of enemies. Then, they sort of "leapt" forwards while Maru rapidly spun a Slinger (which flings the board out in front while having it rotate lengthwise, keeping it there somehow; a trick that shouldn't work but does) and Griff, out a boardlength between the two, spun in an orbit the other way of Maru's spin, doing a Footloose (which consists of spinning tightly, jumping off of the board in a roll, then landing and holding on tight while the spin keeps going—a trick that actually holds with both feet on the board instead of one or more off) so that it looked like he was spinning faster than he really was, for a couple rotations, targeting a surrounding group of them. They switched between these attacks until each was done at least 3 times (Maru wondering if Griff was getting dizzy).

Then, they got back together, back to back. "And for my _next _trick..." Griff began.

They shot off, zooming with boost trails behind them as they looped in all directions, forming an ever-expanding ball of light streams. They quickly then began pulling their signature tricks with flip-spins, Griff doing his as fast as possible and Maru racing through the kick parts to get to the board loop as they continued out. "...you _disappear!!_" Maru finished as the snow began to form in the center of the nucleus they had been orbiting. It exploded when both riders finished and shot into it, emitting a flash of white light.

When it faded, the two landed and got off their boards, Maru re-summoning the Keyblade and Griff holding his head, though the Limit's magic enabled them to resist motion sickness and dizziness to an extreme degree. "And Dad wanted me to take up _golf!_" laughed the boy. Maru touched boards with him before throwing his away.

As they got back to normal battle, Kaori gasped. "So cool!!" she commented in awe and happiness, clapping her gloved hands. Then she sweatdropped and added, "Um, rearry, I mean, really!!" (She probably didn't know how to say "no pun intended" yet.)

This all did quite ample enough damage, and the SkiFreeks were cleared. "Is it over?" Maru asked, turning to the remains of the giant one—the hat, skis, mittens, emblem buttons, carrot, and poles. A vortex of black snow formed at the center of these items, which slowly floated up until, with a flash of light, the giant was back up...with a considerable weight loss. Maru groaned. "Nope..."

"Aww, it looked a bit cuter before," Figment joked. "...But I think I get it—we're supposed to keep fighting it until it's not made up of those things anymore!" he told Maru.

"Keep jerking its chain—or, in this case, scarf," Elliott encouraged. "We'll try to knock it high for you again!"

"Wait for us to regain our energy to use that Limit again, though," Maru called. He blocked a ski pole attack. "That'd be the safest route, with us defending against one enemy instead of a quarter-hundred, then taking out said quarter-hundred quickly with the Limit!"

They found that they were better off hacking away while their MP recharged, actually. When they knocked it high again, Maru tried his Scarf Yank chance, but the head didn't come off—it just slammed it to its back for a couple seconds before it used the jetpack to rocket back up again. When this happened, Kaori encouraged them with, _"Akriamenaide!"_ which Maru translated as "Keep trying!". They followed her advice and kept whittling away at the demon's HP and trying the Scarf Yank chance again.

It took about a minute, but eventually, Figment crowed, "OFF with his head!!" as it popped off once more and the snow became the SkiFreeks.

"Alright, Griff, ready to get dizzy again?" Maru asked, twirling his Keyblade.

"No, but I'm ready to get _tricky!_" Griff answered with a smirk.

"Right. Let's do it!!" And they repeated the Limit, annihilating the 25 SkiFreeks before they were done with it.

The fight continued on for a while, until the Showoff Limit had been used for a total of four times. Then, the monster reformed...but this time, it was now just as fat as an average snowman; in fact, its upper body was bigger than its lower body, somewhat. Maru could tell that its HP was still considerably there, but he found that their hits did more damage and they tended to make it get knocked back easier, like a normal enemy. As well, Fire and Ember stunned it entirely, letting them take a good few whacks at it. Its attacks were weaker, as well. Maru knew—there was no point to yank its scarf anymore. This fight was in the bag. "HAH! You're no worse than a little snowball, now, aren't ya?" Maru taunted as he attacked with his aerial combo. (Admittedly, it _did_ take a little longer than they'd hoped.) The last hit of the battle belonged to an overhead-slashing Griff.

The snowman Heartless' body groaned. It scooted back, tilted right, then left, before it stood, poles in the ground, supporting it, for a moment. Elliott scoffed, crossed his arms, and spat a tiny fireball at it. It hit, and the monster's "legs" split, spreading the skis apart as it collapsed into a lump. It sat there for a second before exploding and releasing a medium-large heart that floated up and through the ceiling.

"Hurry," Griff said to Maru, who was jogging over to Kaori's cage, Keyblade still in hand. The snowboarder looked uneasily at the entrance. "That took a while! The Unknown Rider could be back any second and do something to Kaori, man!"

Maru aimed at the door and fired off his unlocking beam. The door swung open with a metallic squeak and groan. Kaori clapped and cheered before trotting out. She bowed deeply to Maru and the others. _"Domo arigato,_ everybody!!" she thanked graciously, beaming with joy.

Maru nodded back, smiling. "We're just happy you're safe," he told her. She grinned and went to the chair, retrieving her M-COMM, Maru guessed.

Griff sighed in a bit of relief. "Yeah, now Mac can get his butt back to riding," he chuckled. "He's annoying sometimes, but he's pretty cool. Oh!" He produced his own M-COMM and flicked it open. "I'm amazed we still get reception down here...I'm going to text Mac that we got her safe and sound," he said.

"That's very courteous of you, Griff," Maru noted, smiling approvingly.

"Oh, _noooo!_" Everyone turned quickly to look at a saddened Kaori, who was holding her M-COMM and palming her cheek, frowning. "My friends and fami—family are gone," she pouted. She grumbled, _"Baka," _and put it away regardless.

"Oh...I thought something worse had happened," Maru breathed in relief. He sweatdropped when Kaori gave him a sour look and waved his hands rapidly. "N-Not that losing your contacts list isn't really bad!"

Figment laughed. "Maru, you look so FUNNY when you're flustered!!" he guffawed.

Maru shot a look at him. Kaori frowned in concern, this time, as she came over to Maru. "Maru-san? I have something important to tell you that I can't say in English," she told him in her language.

"Hm? What is it?" Maru asked, looking at her with his eyes attentively.

"Translate this for Griff-kun, please:" Kaori clasped her hands together worriedly.

- - -

Mac sighed, lying back dejectedly on the couch in the Green Station Lodge's rec room. He frowned a little, brow knit. "Kaori..." he mouthed with minimal movement. He banged a fist through the air, grimacing. "This SUCKS, man!" he exclaimed. Suddenly, his butt beeped. "Huh?" He grabbed the back of the couch to pull himself up enough to take the device out of his rear pocket, then let himself down again as he flicked it open, muttering, "Great, more spam?" He raised his eyebrows as he saw who it was from. "It's from Griff?" He read a couple lines, eyes widening and a smile forming, before his face stopped a moment. He sat up, turning and putting his feet on the floor. He held the M-COMM with both hands, jaw dropping as he continued to read. When he was done, he looked down between his feet. "No...freaking...way...Talk about your good-news, bad-news...!" he muttered, escalating in volume to the end, where he shot up and ran off.

- - -

Maru and co., with Kaori in tow (her riding with Maru, who was blushing the whole way; she was sort of hugging onto him, body close while she placed her feet on the board, one between his and the other beside his right foot; he had to keep one arm around her back to make sure she was safe), made it down to the mid station of the peak. When they got to a stop, Kaori got off of Maru's board, smiling sheepishly and blushing. "Th-Thank you, Maru-san," she said in Japanese, knowing how uncomfortable she'd accidentally made him feel. "It's just...well, Erriott—I mean, Elliott-san said he was afraid I would get hurt because he's inexperienced, Figment-san is too smal, and Griff-kun...um..." She giggled. "I think Griff-kun would faint."

Maru chuckled at this. "Yes, that he would," he said in English.

"Hey, I heard my name," Griff piped up suspiciously. He raised an eyebrow and put his fists to his hips. "What were you saying?" he asked slowly.

Maru smirked and shook his head. "Nothing," he lied, Kaori shaking her head and hands and denying anything, as well. Griff fumed a bit, and they laughed (well, Maru chuckled).

"Alright, we've got Kaori back!" Figment cheered, punching the air with a leap. "...Now what?"

The music in the riders' and Maru's ears stopped abruptly, and the three looked at their M-COMMs. DJ Atomika's voice came on, then. He sounded uneasy. "S-Sorry about that, folks," he apologized, "but the whole radio station just shook—ACK! It did it again!—and you wouldn't BELIEVE why!! I'm lookin' out the screens for around here at Radio BIG, not the ones I have for the courses, and there's a bunch of weird skiers attacking the building!!" The three looked at each other in alarm. Maru unplugged his earbuds and let the others hear what was going on. They heard a crash in the background. "UH-oh...That weird guy with the scarf I saw barge in must be here, too! Um...Folks, really sorry, but I think things are about to get _pret-ty_ interesting here at Radio BIG—!!" He was cut off and there were sounds of a scuffle. Then, the microphone was tapped.

"Testing," said a familiar voice. Everyone narrowed their gazes and clenched their fists.

"The Unknown Rider!!" they named together at slightly different times with distaste.

"Greetings, BIG Mountain, specifically those involved and interested in the SSX circuit," he began calmly. "I am known colloquially as the Unknown Rider, and I suppose that's as good a name as any."

- - -

In a narrow, dark-carpeted room, filled on both walls with 10" standard-aspect tv screens, well over 200 of them, there were two men. Both were at a long desk with many buttons and slots and things—it sort of looked like a mixing studio. A mic was attached to the desk in the center pointing out. The first man, the Unknown Rider, was leaning over and speaking into it. The other man was sitting in a dark blue rolling chair. He had his redhead in a long buzz-cut, his ears were covered with a pair of big, black, noise-canceling headphones with orange atom symbols on the sides, his hazel eyes were wide, thick eyebrows up high, clean-shaven jaw dropped. He had an orange hoodie with the Radio BIG logo on it, baggy, dark blue cargo jeans, and black and white sneakers. A board with record designs on it lay under the desk by him. His right arm was being held by the Unknown Rider's left hand, and he looked at him in horror...with a big pinch of "GTFO" indignation behind his eyes.

The Unknown Rider continued. "For years, I've watched on helplessly as the SSX circuit hopped around from country to country, the media and fans and hype following wherever they go and infecting the native riders there," he described. "And the things that have been done just for this atrocity—!" He gesticulated with his left hand by shaking the DJ (who grunted with each italics-emphasized shake). "_Entire courses _inside _buildings_ in Tokyo and England!! Carting tons of ice and snow to float in _Hawaiian waters_ as a course that melts beyond rideability before_ the day is done!!_ Closing down streets in _busy cities_ for a few certain people to have some _races!!_" He stopped shaking the DJ. "And all the while, the media and the fans and the hype...have you seen the _size _of the heads they've given to the riders?! Some of them act like they probably should—that the whole world revolves around them, they're that big." He humphed. "Then the media itself, competing with advertizements and slander and 'big stories' and all that garbage...The fans, fighting amongst each other when there's the tiniest disagreement over something, let alone polar opposite viewpoints, and going wild over the most disgusting of things—with certain competitors not making things any better with a _modeling_ career." (On one of the screens, Elise, running outside the lodge on Peak 3, stopped, frowned, put a hand on her hip (the other holding her M-COMM) and shouting something, obviously, "HEY!!")

The Unknown Rider continued. "Then the hype, getting everyone and everything all pumped up and encouraging the fans and media to continue their disgracefulness! Just because these riders can do things that many are too afraid to do, the fabled Über tricks, and race at speeds that touch the limits of human potential, doesn't mean that we should idolize them as much as we do a _football team_ or a _pop star_!!" He banged his right fist on the desk. "And then the corruption! Sponsors milking their riders, event organizers charging ungodly amounts of money per ticket, forcing people either into the nosebleed or walletbleed sections, EVERYTHING!!" He waved his right hand in front of him to emphasize this. He calmed his voice a little and continued. "I came into this sport when it was young and pure and beautiful, when everyone was riding down the hills and having fun, not a care in the world—not even when a broken bone happens. But then pros started coming up...and the sport descended into something it should never have become. It's revolting.

"I have waited so long for this circuit to arrive here on BIG Mountain, itself a mountain owned by corporations...Why else do you think the full name of this station is '_EA _Radio BIG'?" he continued. "That's just one of the companies who has a stranglehold here...a mere _video game_ company, no less! But that's for another day, another person...It's now, it's me. And it's time for me to strike back. I admit, I have been risking the lives of the riders, trying to attack them during races, and the lives of laypeople, attacking the structures most important to the circuit...however, my plans have been foiled left and right, despite them being set into motion this very day! I wanted you to listen—to see yourselves and what you're doing!!" He banged his fist again. "ABANDON this horrid thing!! FREE the slopes!! ENOUGH competition!! And if you refuse to see things the way they are, then you don't deserve to step foot in the bindings." He looked at the DJ. "All this time, this man here, DJ Atomika, has been paid to watch you on his over 252 mountain cams, and has been sending out messages about the circuit like an advertiser...I don't blame him for it, though, since he's being paid to say those things, and we all have to eat. But the fact he's being made to focus on this circuit so much...it's sickening. So, since you have all been so rude as to not even lend me your ears before, I think it is fitting that the one who has been the voice of the circuit..." He bowed his head. "...be the one to whisk the breath out of it."

He yanked Atomika to him, stepping aside so that they could share the mic together. He pointed to a red button marked "Emergency Broadcast System Test". "DJ Atomika, press this button, and let the bombs I have set in emergency around the peak lodges and the building where all of those fat execs practically LIVE activate, sending the spirit of the circuit up in flames!!" he ordered.

DJ Atomika did a double-take. "WHAT?!" he exclaimed. "DUDE!! There are PEOPLE in there who have nothing to do with this!! And that's beside the point that you're a lunatic!!"

"If there must be casualties, then sobeit," the Unknown Rider said solemnly. He grabbed the back of his neck tightly. "DO IT before I kill YOUR spirit—PERMANENTLY!!" he threatened through gritted teeth.

Atomika gagged in pain. "AGGHK!!...Get...OFF!!" he grunted, trying to get him away. Then the Unknown Rider brought his other hand around the rest of his neck, and Atomika yelped before beginning to be choked. "NO!! Urk..."

"Do this, or you and your SSX fanatic girlfriend goes, too," the Unknown Rider added in a whisper to him.

Atomika stared up at him in agony, both inside and out, gagging, then looked down at the red button. His finger shakingly rose up.

- - -

Maru gritted his teeth. "Dammit, this isn't good," he muttered. He turned to the party and Kaori. "We have to get back from the lodge, now!!" They nodded and trotted off from it.

- - -

"I...I'm really...really sorry, folks," Atomika choked out, trying his best to keep his mellow speaking style intact. He gasped as much air in as he could. "...This is...good-bye..." He let his finger rise up...then press the red button. The Unknown Rider let his throat go instantly and stood, watching the cams while Atomika ripped away from his other hand and coughed, gasping for air. The familiar _bree-ee-e-ep_ing sound played.

_The Unknown Rider waited..._

- - -

The party ducked in the snow as far away as they could.

._..and waited..._

- - -

Mac held his breath, standing outside the Green Station Lodge.

_...and waited._

- - -

The Unknown Rider shook his fist. "But...But..." He pressed the button himself a few times. The Emergency Broadcast System alarm started over with each press. In a rage, he roared and slammed his fist onto it, breaking the button and halting the sound. _"WHAT?!"_

Atomika chuckled, standing up from the ground. He turned and made sure he spoke loud enough so that he was heard by the mic. "*ahem* If you'd be so kind as to listen, yourself, Mr. Unknown Rider," he began confidently, smirking.

The Unknown Rider looked like he was about to deck him, but he repeated, "'Listen,'" under his breath before defeatedly throwing both fists down in the air and crossing his arms.

"Thank you," Atomika nodded, putting a hand on his hip and pulling up another mic, which was in the curved-neck variety like the one attached to the the desk, but had its own stand instead. Otherwise it was the same professional microphone. He spoke in a more normal broadcasting voice.

- - -

"Got a little text from competitor Mac Fraser about ten minutes ago, before you started attacking Radio BIG and giving your little extremist monologue on the air," Atomika told him and everyone else. Maru and the others turned to the lodge. It remained. "Talking about a bunch of bombs being set up around the lodges and the main circuit building down in Metro City, and how they were disarming them as he typed. Then, while you were standing here and giving your little speech, my M-COMM, which I'd put on silent, got a text saying they'd gotten all they could find. Just got lucky you didn't notice. And, from the looks of things on the cams, appears that they DID get them all. Nice work, people."

Maru and the others cheered (Maru just pumping his arm before wiping his brow in relief). During a pause (when the Unknown Rider was left flabbergasted, then spluttering in disbelief), Maru said, "We'll head down there, while you head to the lodge, Kaori," quickly.

Kaori nodded and ran inside. Maru and the others stood up and ran to the transport station while Atomika continued to speak.

"And you've got a lot to learn, buddy," he went on. "Snowboarding's still pure! You've just been lookin' so close at the negatives, you're blind!" He chuckled a bit while he said, "You're acting like a little kid, sorta!" He spoke normally again with a little short chuckle at the start, "And, b-hy the way, _I _did all that circuit news updates _of my own accord_. I love the circuit, and I know people want to know more about what's going on because, well, I'll admit, tickets aren't exactly cheap...but it's money well-spent each time you go, man." A rumble. Atomika sucked air in through his teeth at this. "(Oooh, that didn't sound too good...) Now, ah, you want me to give YOU a lil' lecture on what SSX _really_ is? Or you just gonna act like a _really _mature adult and ignore me, cuz if you are, you can just take your little demented skier posse and vamoose. This mountain's got tunes to work and ride to."

The Unknown Rider growled aggrivatedly before humphing loudly. "Fine! I don't have time to listen to whatever nonsense you'd spew at me, because I know what the circuit is—you're the one too childish to admit it. Now, then, if you'll excuse me, I've got a hostage to take care of."

"A what?"

The Unknown Rider snickered. "Aaah, got your attention, huh?" he checked a little slowly. "Yes. Someone very important to that same Mackenzie, Kaori Nishidake, is in my care. I'd promised to keep her safe, and now, I think she has no safer place to be than where nothing can get to her, ever..."

"What...is with that button?"

"Oh, nothing, just a little something I call a nerve gas emitter," came the nonchalant reply. "My intruder alert alarm went off while I was on Peak 3, but I'm quite certain that my guard took care of them quite handily. But now, Kaori needs to be safe, no? Where can anyone be safer than in the afterlife?"

"NO! Don't do it!" Atomika shouted desperately. A brief pause passed before he said, "Look, why do you want to kill HER? She's innocent!!"

"I know, and I'm sorry about that fact. However, if I need to get people to realize just how serious I am about this, and how seriously they have erred, then I might need to take desperate measures."

"But...c'mon, can't we talk this over some coffee or something?" Atomika asked, almost chuckling.

Meanwhile, Maru and co. had gotten to the station. "We need to get to the village, stat!" Griff told the pilot, who was someone he didn't know.

"Then hurry up and get in!" he said.

"Wait a sec," Maru said, and he ran and used the save disc before returning quickly. They then all got into the Osprey, which took off and went roaring down to Peak 1. On the way there, the two in the station continued to talk back and forth. 'Wait a minute...' Maru realized. 'He's stalling for time, isn't he?' He smirked. 'Good job, DJ Atomika...keep him there by doing what you do best—talking.'

And talk he did. The Osprey dropped them off at the transport station in the city. "Sorry, man, I lied before," Griff said over his shoulder. "There IS interesting stuff in the city from that plaza apart from our lodges and the board shop. Radio BIG is here, too, right in the middle of the mountains to get the best reception to all of 'em! C'mon!" They went down the road, ignoring Heartless along the way. They reached the plaza and went down another road that Griff pointed out.

After another road and a while, they reached a place on the edge of the village. A somewhat large parking lot with a few snow-covered cars spread out before a building built up on the slope of the mountainside whose part that wasn't in the mountain was held up by beams and other supports. Beside it all rose a gigantic radio tower, nearly poking the low clouds overhead that made the valley between the three peaks, where the village was located, look like it was covered in blossoming apple trees from a distance. Stairs went up into the radio station itself. They saw SkiFreeks and a few of those snowmen skier Heartless—albeit about as big as the one they fought before when it was on its last legs...well...skis...whatever—attacking the supports.

As they got there, they heard the conversation take a sudden turn. In the middle of Atomika's talking, the Unknown Rider barked, "ENOUGH!! You're stalling the inevitable!! BIG Mountain and all of SSX, you've made your choices!!"

_Beep._

"...Um...You don't have anyone else down there, right?" Atomika asked, like anyone else who was double-checking someone's big decision.

"What? No! Why are you so calm now? You were BEGGING me not to press it, before!" the Unknown Rider exclaimed.

During this, Maru felt a poke at his collar and he looked down. Navi had the Navi-G Radar, and it was pinging. Maru raised his eyebrows.

Atomika chuckled. "That's because that text Mac sent me also said that she was safe," he answered slyly.

_"WHAAAAT?!"_

"I got a text a couple minutes ago—mighta seen me glance at the chair, there—from competitor Griff Simmons, reading simply, 'STALL HIM.' So I stalled you." Maru looked impressedly at Griff, who chuckled sheepishly. "And, well, well, here he is, now, along with some guys I've seen bustin' up those things you've sicked on the racers all day. Didn't say anything before now because they were doing such a...heh-heh...'bang-up job'," Atomika ended his explanation with a little joke.

"C'mon, let's stop them from destroying this place," Maru said, rushing forwards with Griff.

"Why those..." the Unknown Rider grumbled. He humphed. "I had a feeling about this. I'm a good scout—I'm prepared."

"...Wait, what's THAT one for?"

"This button? Oh, just to set off the separate explosives I had my minions set around this place while they attacked directly. If you'll excuse me..."

"!! B.R.B.," Atomika said. "GET BACK HERE!!" The mic dropped and sounds of scuffling were heard.

"HURRY!!" Maru shouted after cursing as they reached the Heartless.

They fought the Heartless off rather easily, actually, since there weren't that many there. The bigger SkiFreeks went down without splitting up, thankfully. They actually looked a bit different, too—they were shorter, they had bright green skis and poles, oddly, and they had classic white pom-tipped dark blue beanies. Navi decided to call these SkiFreekouts, with the one they'd fought before called a Centi-SkiFreekout, the prefix referring to the 100 smaller enemies it was made of that came out 25 at a time. They were a bit weaker HP-wise than the bigger one, but the SkiFreekouts were a bit stronger in attacks. They still had a high vulnerability to fire, though, and Griff's snow-based attacks were handy, as well.

However, all was not good. "I'm not damaging them as much, anymore!" Griff said when his combo finish, the overhead two-handed slash, failed to knock them back.

Maru frowned. "I wonder..." He gasped when he realized what it may be. He nodded. "Just hang in there!!"

In no time, they had defeated them all. Griff and Maru ran up the stairs as fast as they could. Maru fired his unlocking beam for the third time in the last half-hour as they went, and they dashed up to the door.

Inside the studio itself, meanwhile, Atomika and the Unknown Rider were grappling with each other, as if Atomika was trying to point the Rider's gun away, except this time, it was a remote with a single red button covered by a plastic shell so the place didn't accidentally blow while the masked man was inside. So, as well, Atomika was preventing him from escaping and blowing it sky-high. However, he wasn't exactly super-strong, so all he'd been able to do was slow his escape. Right now, they were in a hallway with a few doors. A window was at either end, one looking out to the mountain, the other to the parking lot below. "Don't even THINK about it," Atomika grunted through gritted teeth. "I worked SO hard for this station! Heck, it's practically the ONLY radio station on BIG Mountain!! You break it, you break the spirits of _everyone_ around here, not just the circuit!"

"If that's what must be...!" the Unknown Rider grunted. "My patience has run thin!"

Suddenly, a door near the end of the hall towards the parking lot side slammed open, Maru coming in. Atomika started at the sound, looking around. "Huh?"

The Unknown Rider took advantage of this distraction and threw him away before quickly throwing a smoke bomb. Maru cursed and coughed as he heard him run past him. He heard a crash of glass and knew that the Unknown Rider had jumped out through the window. "Idiot!" he berated himself, smacking his forehead. "MUSIC!" he ordered Atomika before running out again. Atomika stood up and ran back into the studio.

Griff heard the smoke bomb go off and stopped. "Gamer senses tingling!" he muttered before looking over the side of the stairs a second. Then, as the window broke, he gulped and jumped down.

The Unknown Rider tumbled on the slope below, barely landing in the soft snow part that curved in his direction before hitting the pavement, headfirst. He stood up and, without missing a beat, gave a mighty jumping roundhouse to Elliott and hammering down Figment before either of them could stop him. He ran into the middle of the parking lot before turning and facing the station. He held up the remote, uncovering the button, and let out a triumphant laugh. "DOWN WITH SSX!!" he cried.

Just then, as his thumb lifted to press the button, his hand was attacked from the side by a snowball. The remote fell with it. "WHAT?!" the Unknown Rider exclaimed, looking at his hand, then the place it fell...broken, on the pavement, amidst clods of snow...then to his right.

Griff was standing in the snow beside the parking lot, panting, still in the follow-through position of what had to be the world's best snowball throw. "I dreamed of riding on this circuit," he said darkly. "I ain't lettin' you take that away, man."

The Unknown Rider turned to face him, crossing his arms. "You're pretty tenacious, Griff Simmons," he complemented calmly, "and surprising. An SSX competitor at the age of 12...and more clever than I thought. Though...of course, you had help from your friends..." he added, looking off to see Maru, Figment, and Elliott (the dragons still holding their heads for a second) running at him. Elliott carried Griff's board. "Why do you fight so zealously? For your thrills?" he asked Griff, looking at him again.

"Yeah, man! It's snowboarding, just like what you were talkin' about a while ago!" Griff nodded, raising an eyebrow. He spread his arms out. "Snowboarding hasn't changed—you're just being a big ol'..._Negative Nancy_, that's all!" He motioned around him, face serious. "This mountain is perfect for riding, and that's what we're trying to do! Sure, I'd love to get away from my sponsors and all that stuff, but there's a _reason_ people keep doing and watching this sport." He lowered his head a bit and brought his arms to himself. He spoke softer. "I do it for fun, like everyone else...who wins or loses is important only us, the riders. We don't care about the money and that stuff, man." He looked up, face searching for understanding. "We're just riders. And the audience..."

He looked at his chest for a moment, and he clenched his fists on it before looking up and taking a step forwards, arms out and gesticulating. "I figured out a little while ago that we all need someone to cheer on!!" he stated with his full voice.

"People watch this sport because they want to see someone win, to see someone do something they could never do! It's a lot deeper than you think, man!" Griff smiled a bit, finding those kinds of words coming from his mouth a bit funny. "And mostly, the crowd doesn't care who wins or loses—snowboarding's as much a show as it is a sport, when you get right down to it—a show for the riders _and_ the crowd!" He started walking over. "The ones who fight over favorites like they're football teams are just stupid, man, and trust me, you can't fix stupid people unless they WANT to be fixed. And sure, we get a big head now and then...when you're flyin' that high, man, you kinda have to feel good about yourself, so don't bag on us for that. We ride for fun, to see what we can do, to prove ourselves...not for fame and fortune and all that stuff. And the hype, sure, there's that, but when you're goin' that high and fast, SOMEbody's bound to notice and make a big deal out of it. We just gotta take the chills with the thrills.

"You want snowboarding to be pure, huh?" He stopped a few feet away from him, smiling with an eyebrow raise. He shrugged. "I'd say it's as pure as the snow on a great track, and I mean that it's pretty dang pure—and that's as pure as it's gonna get, man."

The Unknown Rider shook his head somberly. "Your attempt at wisdom is appreciated, but the value of said wisdom is non-existent," he told him. He looked up in his eyes and snapped his fingers. Instantly, appearing from a black burst, his snowboard fell from a few feet above him. He caught it by the end in one hand before having it fall to its other end on the ground. He gripped the bindings, pulled on them, and twisted his hands in. A few lines of light flashed along the board, and at the same time, a song started playing over Griff's and Maru's M-COMMs (Maru had put his earbuds back in). "Regardless, you have gotten your nose in too far," he said. The bindings changed, all the strips of plastic(?) forming into handles that he gripped, and the board started to split apart. "All of you. And now, I believe there's an old adage that applies to this moment..."

He separated the board into two flat, S-like blades that curved in mirrored directions to each other. The bindings, now completely made into (for lack of a better word) staple-shaped handles, were the centers of these shapes, and they appeared to nestle into each other to create a seamless, single board when their separate forms were unneeded. He twisted his wrists inwards, and the blades began to spin, the ends expelling streams of darkness, opposite the streams of light Maru and Griff produced during their Limit. The Unknown Rider put them so that the blades were spinning over the backs of his hands and stomped his foot, arms straight down to his sides while the black and red-streaked blades spun towards them. "...If you want something done right, you've got to do it yourself!" he finished shortly.

Elliott tossed Griff his board when he ran over to join the group. "Well, about time," Maru humphed, twirling his Keyblade. The music hung for a moment as they stared off, a distorted sample warning, _"Brace yoursee-ee-eelf..."_ And a beat later, they jumped to action with its shout to _"GO!"_ (The song was Andy Hunter's "Go", which fit the intense situation perfectly.)

The battle in the parking lot began with the Unknown Rider charging at the party with his blades out at his sides. He attacked them with strong slashing attacks, spinning himself around and striking with both weapons. If he got close enough, he would grab one of the party members in a sort of gear-grinding grab, holding the blades at an angle so that one went in the spaces of the other, both of them turning towards each other. It was a powerful, focused attack, and poor Figment got it the first time and was a hurtin' dragon afterwards, making him use a potion only a half minute into the fight. The Unknown Rider also retaliated with a strong uppercut that sent him flying higher than a human ought to jump normally, then going into a spinning air attack on the way down before slamming down his target with both blades before they landed. Sometimes he even threw one, it acting like a boomerang, and sometimes even doing a wide combo by throwing them out at a distance a bit beyond his normal reach one after the other in an arc before him. And, of course, he would simply deliver straight punches. He guarded with them fairly well, too, bouncing back Maru's Keyblade swings skillfully with the rotating blades and, whenever he became too surrounded, throwing them in a brief orbit around his body. Finally, to the dragons' dismay, he attacked with Blizzard magic, as well.

Once, he covered his blades in ice and taunted, "Ever been diced by a _snowflake_?" before grabbing the left blade out of his hand and tossing them out at the same time. They formed, as he'd described, a crude, giant snowflake. Maru suddenly had the craziest idea when he felt a chance come as it quickly approached. He jumped onto the top of the snowflake and rode it back to its master. He had to react to another chance before the ice crystals broke off and he was damaged by the spinning blades beneath his feet, and so jumped off towards the defenseless Unknown Rider, grabbing his head and covering his goggles for a moment so that his own weapon would collide with him, opening him for a few hits. He swung off at the last second so that he wasn't hit, too, thankfully. Then, he attacked him in a merciless combo before the Unknown Rider threw a great kick and knocked him back before resummoning his blades.

As well, after doing that, he tossed them up and clapped his hands twice before catching them again, calling, "C'mon, you fodder!" A few Heartless appeared, four SkiFreeks and one of the snowmanlike SkiFreekouts. They all attacked them, the Unknown Rider still fighting, himself (thus not being a hypocrite with what he'd said before). To Maru's and Griff's delight and relief, the snowboard-as-a-weapon idea worked as well as it normally did again. 'It WAS...!' Maru thought.

Maru found that the snowball the SkiFreeks became after being tripped couldn't take up the SkiFreekouts, nor could they take the Unknown Rider, but when he rolled it towards the Unknown Rider, he yelped and slashed at it with his blades, knocking it back. Maru had to push against it with a fair bit of strength before he could return it with more speed than before (and more circumference, given the distance it'd traveled). The Unknown Rider slashed to no success and the snowball bowled him over. When Maru heard the "GRAAU-MMPH!" from his enemy's mouth, he quickly followed up with his struck Ember, detonating the ball while it was still on top of him. This dealt damage to the Unknown Rider and defeated the Heartless within the snowball. The Unknown Rider got up soon afterwards, none too happy, but not exactly dazed enough to let them get some shots in.

The more damage the tenacious Unknown Rider took, the more SkiFreekouts he summoned instead of SkiFreeks. When he'd finally summoned 3 of them, Maru grimaced. "Alright, things are getting a bit out of hand, here," he commented to his teammates. "Griff!! We should put a stop to this madness!"

"Yeah, I'm tired of playtime, for once!" Griff agreed, and they began their Limit. They'd defeated the SkiFreekouts before the assault was done with, so they focused their final hits on the Unknown Rider, using the last two normal attacks as the more single target-focused one. The Unknown Rider was severely damaged by this, but not defeated. It took another few combos before, with a final strike from Maru's Keyblade, he growled, "You...will never...understand...!!"

The music stopped as the Unknown Rider stumbled back, panting, blades spinning a bit still. "You...Why won't you _listen??_" he asked desperately. He waved a hand. "Snowboarding's been corrupted as much as football and almost every other sport out there! I was going to free it!"

"It's already free," Maru shook his head. He waved to the sky above. "When you're in the air, flying high above the trees, you can do anything you want..." He looked back at the Unknown Rider, bringing his hand down into a fist, looking a little longing. "Until you come down, nobody can stop you."

"And in this sport, you get a _lot _of air!" Griff added, smirking.

The Unknown Rider shook his head. "You just won't get it..." he mumbled.

"NO!! _YOU'RE _the one that just won't get it!!" Maru shouted, pointing at him angrily. "You act like this is all some holy cause, like some _terrorist!!_ But this is just a sport—nothing more than a _game!!_" He threw his hand at that last word. He bowed his head a little. "The sport...well, sport_s_, now, I guess...that I take part in, they're important to me. I know that neither one of them is perfect. But I'm just happy that it's not gotten any worse." He raised it again, clenching his fist. "If you're going to complain, don't act like a ch...an _infant_," he chose, giving a quick glance at Griff, "and throw a glorified temper tantrum over it, like you have been! _That's _why nobody's listened to you!" He gesticulated at "that".

The Unknown Rider raised a hand, ready to retaliate, then lowered it, growling. His growl grew, hands shaking, until he charged out at Maru. _"SH-SHUT THE HELL UP, PURPLE CARROTTOP!!"_ he screamed, raising his blades.

Maru anger-veined, eyes glowing, and raised his Keyblade.

A _clash!!_ pierced the air, echoing around the mountain. A few birds flew from a pine tree, chirping agitatedly.

The Unknown Rider and Maru stood, back to back, in their finished attacking poses—Maru with his Keyblade out to his side, the Unknown Rider with his arms straightened out, blades spinning quickly. Then quick. Then considerably. Then slowly. Then barely at all. They stopped, breaking in two (or four), and the Unknown Rider fell to his knee, releasing the bindings and the chunks still attached to them. He panted. "It's _Maru,_" corrected the Keyblader darkly. And speaking of darkness, that's what came up from the remains of the snowboard blades. It swirled up like smoke before dissipating in the wind. The blades were left looking an unsaturated grey, dull, and useless.

The Unknown Rider looked over his shoulder at him, and Maru could feel the withering look he was given behind the goggles. "..."

"You gonna grow up and come with us, now?" Griff asked, walking over and slouching, hand on his hip while he gave a none-too-impressed look at him. "Honestly, and people call ME a kid..."

The Unknown Rider slowly turned his head, bringing that glare to him. In a frightening wheezing voice of hatred, he vowed, "..._You_...will _pay_..." _Pum-pum_.

...

_Pum-pum._ "No!" he hissed, looking at his hands, and he clapped again. He shook his head and glared at Griff again. "You _will_ pay," he repeated darkly.

At that moment, a snowy tornado began to pick up from almost nowhere. "What the...?" Figment muttered, looking at the cloud of ice and wind coming their way from the side of the parking lot. "Where'd THAT come from?!"

"Quick, grab him!!" Elliott cried with a resolute look, raising his paws, and as the snowstorm passed over them, they lunged for the Unknown Rider all at once—resulting in them banging together.

"Oof! _Aah!_ Watch the wings!"

"You got him?! I think I'm crushing him..."

"I think I do—!"

"That's MY leg!!"

"I thought it felt awful baggy—sonova...!"

"Where'd he go?! And you're CRUSH-ING MEEE!!"

"EEP! Sorry!"

"I don't know!"

"I can't detect him in any way!"

"*sniff* I can't—AUGH! SNOWFLAKES! NOSTRILS!"

The tornado died down, revealing the four to be crawling frantically around on the icy parking lot, no longer on top of one another. When they could see each other again, they looked up, blushed at how silly they looked, and stood up. Maru growled and spat, _"Chikushou!" _He shook his head, groaning and facepalming. "He got away...How did he get away? How did that storm come up?" he asked nobody quietly in aggravation.

"Maybe he set up an emergency trap or something," suggested Griff, shrugging.

"Well, he's gone, and I don't know if he'll be coming back for a while," Figment said a bit optimistically. He pointed at the broken weapons. "You guys saw that darkness coming from those, right? It doesn't take much to assume that that's where his power came from."

"You're right," Maru said, nodding. "I detected a lot of power from it, and besides, if you noticed, when he tried to summon his Heartless again, it didn't work."

"So we just saved the circuit?" Griff asked hopefully.

Maru nodded at him, smirking a bit. "Yep, you're a hero, Griff," he confirmed.

Griff jumped, punching the air with a great, big, "WOO-HOOOO!!" He then proceeded to jump around excitedly. "Aw, YEAH, man! That was TIGHT! I'm the BOMB!! No, we're ALL the bomb!! ...Or would that be bombs? Anyway, WE ROCK!! WOOOOOOOO!!" He ended by coming down on one knee and nodding his head, hands up in the rock horns. Maru couldn't help but smile a bit while everyone laughed. Figment even joined Griff.

"HEY!!" called a voice.

They turned and saw DJ Atomika standing on the balcony. He was smirking. "IF YOU'RE DONE CELEBRATING, WHY NOT COME IN AND WARM UP?"

The party looked at each other before smiling (or smirking) and nodding (or shrugging).

- - -

"Aaaaaand you're back with EA Radio BIG," Atomika said as the next song ended. He was sitting back at his spot at the built-in microphone. He pressed a few buttons, putting on some background music softly while he continued. "Today was a _pret-ty_ interesting day for everyone, I'd say," he said, tilting his head a bit at "pretty". "Weird skiers attacking everyone (I always knew they'd strike back someday), bomb threats, genius use of the amazing little things we all know and love called M-COMMs, and an anti-public sports radical at the center of it all. Gonna be a long night for you diary writers, ain't it?" he chuckled.

"Don't remind me," Navi grumbled, unheard, from Maru's collar. Maru and Griff were sitting in chairs beside Atomika, Griff closer to the DJ than Maru. Two of Atomika's movable mics were standing on the desk in front of each of them. Figment and Elliott sat aside, watching.

"Well, I know you're all tired of the talk show this has turned into the last half hour or so, but I feel compelled to bring you guys two of the most important people in this whole thing," Atomika continued. He turned and scooted back so he'd still talk into his mic. "Here's SSX competitor Griff Simmons and the winner of the M-COMM contest earlier today on Crow's Nest and the guy who filled in for Kaori at today's Snow Jam race event, Maru. Thanks for comin', fellas."

Griff grinned and nodded. "Awesome to be here and meet you, man," he greeted back.

Maru, blushing a little at the fact he was about to be interviewed (and admittedly a tad nervous), nodded and said, "Not a problem." He glanced around with his eyes. 'I wonder where that Navi-G is...?'

**How're you guys doin' today? I mean, after all this excitement?**

Griff: Ah, I'm alright, man. A bit pooped, but, hey, you run around all three peaks and fight off monsters, you'd get pretty tired, too. I'm just thankful I've got so much sugar in my system to keep me goin'!"

Maru: *sweatdrop* Griff, you're scaring me... */sweatdrop* I feel alright. Though this is the first time I've been up in the mountains like this—heck, first time on a snowboard—I'm used to fighting those things, called Heartless.

**Wait, this was your first time on a snowboard, Maru?! I saw you on my cams, and you're pretty dang good for a first-timer! *chuckle* You pullin' my leg?**

Maru: *headshake* No, I'm not. I, erm...guess I'm a quick learner. Being able to apply some of my fighting experience helped.

Griff: I had to show him the ropes, though, heh-heh.

**Heh, you're a good teacher, then, eh, Griff? *Griff laughs* Alright, now, I saw you guys fighting those...Heartless, right? Well, I saw you fighting them, Griff, with your snowboard. And, later, when I was watching some of the other riders attack those Heartless with theirs, it worked pretty well, too. How'd that work as an effective weapon?**

Griff: Well...Um...Kinda hard to explain...

Maru: Normally, such weapons would go straight through Heartless. However, my theory is this: Snowboards are essentially the "hearts" of snowboarding, and when wielded by those passionate about the sport—the riders—they are able to strike them. I found out a few minutes ago that this wasn't it, though. Griff tried fighting Heartless outside here and found it didn't work as well. Then, when you started playing that song during our fight against the Unknown Rider, when he summoned his Heartless, Griff's board worked as well as it had been the rest of the day. So, your music, Atomika, combined with the boards—as I said, the "hearts" of snowboarding. As we all know, music works together with the heart to produce amazing effects...The songs you played fit perfectly with riding, enhancing the boards' effectiveness against those without hearts. In short, riding music + riders = snowboard swords against Heartless.

Griff: Thanks, Maru.

**R-Really? *raising eyebrows, indicates self* **_**I **_**helped you guys out? Wow, uh...Heh, kinda cool. No problem, I guess. *smirks, blushing a bit, before getting back to business* So, how'd you guys find out about this whole scheme of the Unknown Rider's?**

Griff: Well, kinda figured it out on our own...See...*He and Maru summarize what happened—they got suspicious after seeing so many SkiFreeks, first on Peak 1, then at Rob & Bob's, then finally during Snow Jam; their suspicions were confirmed when Mac told them that Kaori was kidnapped; they collected info on the Unknown Rider, who confronted them and Mac; they went around the other two peaks and convinced the "masters" to use their influence and make the other riders defend the courses; they rescued Kaori and warned everyone about the bombs; and they came to confront the Unknown Rider there at Radio BIG.*

**...Wow. *laughs* Ju-hust...wow. I watched some of it, too, it was pretty amazing. Now, Maru, you going to stick around? I'm willing to bet the officials would **_**love**_** to have you on board, rounding out the pros to 20.**

Maru: *shakes head, holding up hand* No, thanks; me and my teammates had better get going soon. We're...on an important trip. Snowboarding is fun, though, so I might come back sometime.

Griff: Awwwwwwwwwwwwww...

**My thoughts, exactly, Griff. Man, Maru, you'd **_**dominate **_**the freestyle part of the circuit! Erm...In a good way, not...uh...what the Unknown Rider was talking about...You think he was right on some things?**

Griff: Some, but only, like, 5%.

Maru: I admit, this sport does appear to be plagued by its share of corruption, but from what I've seen, the riders are pretty exempt from said corruption; it's the officials I'm worried about. But with a sport as popular to watch as this, you can't really help it. *shrug* I'm just glad it's not as bad as some ball sports.

**Yeah, that's what I think, too. I'm here doing what I do with the SSX circuit because I love the sport and what the circuit brings to us. But, anyway, it's a bummer you can't stay with us, man...um...**

Atomika turned and looked in a bag of stuff under his desk. "Let's see here...Well, I kinda don't want you to go away without something to remember us by, so, uh..." He gathered some stuff before turning and spreading out a bunch of SSX and Radio BIG swag on the desk. There was even a t-shirt! (A t-shirt that was lying on top of something...) "Take whatcha want from this swag I got, here. Go ahead, both of ya, you earned it. And your friends over there, too," he added beckoning to the dragons.

Figment was there in a flash, grabbing up a mini-flashlight with the Radio BIG logo on it. Elliott walked over and picked up a small desk clock designed like a snowflake with the SSX logo on it, examining it. Griff grinned and looked at it all, rubbing his hands. Maru just looked a little embarrassed. 'I don't want any of that junk...' He glanced around.

"Don't be shy, Maru," said Atomika encouragingly. "I mean...okay, it's not the _coolest_ swag, but..."

Maru started to shake his head, holding a hand politely, when Griff pulled the t-shirt off the desk. Something under it rolled with it and bounced on the floor. His eyes shot to it and he gasped. '_There _it is!' He pointed. "THAT," he chose loudly, and he stood up and retrieved it.

"That? That's not exactly _swag_, it's just a weird, multicolor bouncy ball—one of those kinds that isn't completely round and bounces funny," Atomika said. "But...you look like you want it..."

Maru smirked as he put it in his collar. "I collect them," he half-lied.

"Ah. Stylin' cloak, by the way," Atomika complimented, raising an eyebrow. Maru couldn't help but smirk harder, crossing his arms (and Figment and Elliott couldn't help but roll their eyes). "Now, Maru, I've got another present for ya...sorry, Griff, but you get enough cool stuff from the circuit..." Atomika waved his hands around the room. "Pick a CD, any CD," he said. Indeed, lying around the studio, on the desk and in boxes, were many, many different CDs.

Maru raised his eyebrows. 'Now THIS I might be interested in,' he mused. "Thank you," he nodded, and he went around. "You sure you don't need them for your station?" he asked over his shoulder, voice heard distantly over the radio.

"Yeah, I can just replace it," Atomika shrugged. He turned back to his mic. "In the meantime, just wanna remind you all, requests are still a fine choice to make at any time of the day...I practically live here, after all. Oh, the weather, should do that too...Tomorrow looks like clear skies over Peak 1..."

Maru strolled along the desk, eying CDs. 'I've never even heard of some of these people,' he thought. 'It would be good for me to expand my horizons, but...huh?' He stopped and picked up a blue CD that looked a lot different from the rest. It almost looked familiar...He raised an eyebrow, took it out of its case, and ran it through his TM identifier quickly. He raised both eyebrows when it read back something. "Well, well!!" 'Talk about luck!' He turned and waited until Atomika was finished giving the weather (which took a couple seconds). "Atomika, you've got some real hidden gems in this studio," he commented to him.

"Huh? Oh, yeah—SHOOT! Wait, okay, there ARE some ones I'd rather you not take..." he suddenly remembered, grinning nervously and holding his hands up.

Maru waved the blue disc, back in its jewel case. "This one of them?" he asked.

"Huh? That thing? That doesn't even work," the DJ replied, raising an eyebrow. "You collect them, too? I mean, sure, it's a nice blue..."

"I can work it back home," Maru, in a way, half-lied, smirking. "May I?"

"Go ahead," Atomika shrugged. "Alrighty, then, it's gettin' a bit late, so I'm gonna have to boot you guys out," he said to them all. "Thanks for hangin' with me today!"

"No problem! It was great, man, hope to hang again, soon!" Griff enthused, putting on the powder blue shirt over his own and chuckling.

"I'll be back, definitely," Maru assured the DJ. "C'mon, Griff, let's let him play more music again," he beckoned.

"Right, right..." Griff hopped off the chair and they all started leaving, waving good-bye.

"And remember, guys, to stay tuned to Radio BIG," reminded Atomika, smirking as he waved back. The door closed and he chuckled. "Man, the things you _see _on a mountain...heh...wonder how many tourists we scared off today..."

*****OBTAINED Navi-G*****

*****OBTAINED SM5*****

Back up at Peak 1's Green Station Lodge, Maru turned to Griff. "We've got to go, now," he said a bit softly. "You go and beat Psymon, alright?"

Griff looked disappointed, but he smiled and nodded. "You said you'd be back, so I'm holdin' you to it," he warned. "I'll text you if anything important comes up!"

Maru smiled a bit sorrily. 'I HIGHLY doubt the reception's THAT good,' he thought. "Alright, but don't be surprised if I'm out of range," he said. "We're going pretty far. But I'll come back, don't worry."

Griff chuckled. "Alright, man, you have fun," he said.

"Yo!"

The party turned to see Mac walking with Kaori, smiling with a swagger in his step again. "You dawgs are da BOMB, yo!!" he praised happily. He held his hand up to give a hearty handshake to Maru, who took it a little awkwardly. "Kaori came back down from Peak 2 without a scratch. Thanks a million, yo!"

Maru nodded. "It wasn't a problem," he humbly returned.

"Oh! Mac!" Griff went, remembering. "You think now's a good time to do that race, man? The Peak 1 race?"

Mac chuckled and crossed his arms. "You _stupid?_ Just when I get back with my gi—best friend?" he asked, catching himself after a fleeting stumble. He raised an eyebrow competitively. "I'm feelin' like a million bucks, so I _know_ that ain't nobody beatin' _my_ best time down the mountain!"

"You wanna bet?" Griff asked, raising an eyebrow back and smirking slyly.

"No! Just get yo' butt up to Happiness and show me that I'm top dawg!" Mac challenged, pointing out the door.

"Yer on!" Griff narrowed his eyes determinedly.

Kaori giggled. "Good luck, Griff-kun!" she bade. She smiled up at Maru and bowed breifly. "Thank you again, Maru-san," she said in Japanese.

Maru bowed back. "You are most welcome," he replied in the language, smiling. In English, he said, crossing his arms, "We have to go now. We'll be back, though."

Kaori looked disappointed, but Mac gave a cocky, "Heh!" He looked at him and told him, "Then get goin', dawg, and quit suckin' up all the oxygen up here! There ain't much this high, you know!"

Maru chuckled. "But you sure seem to have a hot lot of it," couldn't help but poke (not physically).

Mac laughed. "Top dawg's gotta show who's alpha, y'know?" he reasoned, thumbing himself.

"Come back anytime, Maru-san, Figment-san, Elliot-san!!" Kaori welcomed, bobbing her body and tilting her head cutely.

"We will! Just...don't go walking down any alleys anymore, Kaori," Figment replied, chuckling wryly.

Kaori giggled.

*-*-*

FerreTrip: *sighs and flumps back in his chair* I did it...Took ALL Spring Break, but I did it...

Maru: *in winter garb still because this is Wisconsin in a room that's a bit colder than the rest of the house, leaning on the bed, crossing arms* And yet again, it's a Bit with lots of dialogue and cutscenes and not much happening.

FT: *turns, hurt expression* Hey, come on, I had this all planned out, actually!! It's just...*looks away with eyes* I kinda didn't realize that connecting two plot points wasn't as easy as I thought...

Maru: *frowns* And this world was supposed to be HARDER than the other one! You originally planned for us to go to the next one first, and yet you wrote it so that we didn't almost get our asses handed to us. Heck, I didn't even Drive!! *looks hurt, now* You know how much I love using my Drive forms...

FT: *blinks* You're not gonna...?

Maru: *looks alarmed before anger-veining, shaking a fist* You're smart for not finishing that sentence...

FT: *chuckles a little weakly, sweatdropping, then frowns, crossing arms* But that part where you had to defend the board shop wasn't a picnic, either.

Maru: That's because you made me stupid and didn't let me figure out the chance until then.

FT: Well, generally, the differences in recommended level for each world aren't that bad within sets...And besides, you're Mewtwo, remember?

Maru: *opens mouth to speak, but then sits back again* I'm weakened, but true enough.

FT: Weeelllll, anyway, just be glad that this chapter's cutsceneage wasn't as bad as Persona 4's is...

Maru: *sweatdrops, eyes closed and nodding* Have to agree with you there...

*-*-*

Fail omake, I know, sorry. But anyone who knows Persona 4, you know what I mean. X3; Anyway, we're DONE on BIG Mountain, last game place we'll see (I think) in Maru's journey! Next stop: Another semi-recent Disney cartoon movie world! See you all again in a few months!! (And hopefully not a year like last time!! n.n;; )

P.S.: Before starting to write this Bit, I found out that Birth by Sleep did Stitch's world now. Shit. But it's only in space, not on Hawaii proper. Not shit. X3

P.P.S.: Also edited some stuff in previous chapters--which explains Maru's map issue before they left to save Kaori. (Just look at the middle of the lodge scene on Peak 1 and the end of the lodge scene on Peak 2 in the last chapter.) Also, edited Griff's outfit in the first chapter of this Bit to be the way I wanted it to be, anyway; I let myself do what the rare official artwork and renders there are did. Now he's in the starting outfit he's in in the actual game. And, I know, I never described Psymon's outfit in as much detail as the others. You really want me to, though?

P.P.P.S.: Fact: I didn't bring my Wii over Break this time to cut down on luggage...so I didn't have the game to reference from. So I guessed on a lot of things and did things differently than how I wanted. (For instance, Kaori isn't in her starting outfit in the game, since I couldn't find a detailed picture of her in it.) Note to self: When doing a fanfic and writing a part using stuff from a game you have, HAVE THE GAME HANDY. Oh, the irony...


	31. Letter from the Author

Dear readers,

Short and sweet, I can't write this anymore. It sucks too much and I just don't really have the time or energy to try and continue it.

So I'm lumping both fics together and rewriting it so that there's a real cohesive overarching plot, better ideas, and a new combat system not yet seen (3D hasn't come out at this time)! Not to mention the inclusion of another subplot I've been holding off on until now.

No more side stories. No Sonic side story, no Metroid side story. All the important plots are going to be together in one place. (Probably not written in perfect chronological order, buuuuuut...hey. Cut me some slack, this ain't easy. :P) As well, I'm so sorry to say this, but a few worlds I planned and one or two I've already done are going to be thrown out due to them not really fitting in the story.

Thank you SO much everyone who's favorited this fic or the other, but I've gotta stop it now. This fic will remain "Incomplete" until I finish the real one, like I did for "[Insert Game Title Here]: Gotta Cheer 'em All!".

Okay, timma wrap this up. I already posted the new fic—starting with the redo of Maru's story, chapter 1—and you can find it by searching for: "**Kingdom Hearts Re:Puzzle of Truth**".

Again, thank you all so much! I've had a lot of fun doing this fic, and I hope to continue having fun by making what I've got better!

Sincerely,

—FerreTrip


End file.
